A new protocetid whale offers clues to biogeography and feeding ecology in early cetacean evolution.

ABSTRACT: Over about 10 million years, the ancestors of whales transformed from herbivorous, deer-like, terrestrial mammals into carnivorous and fully aquatic cetaceans. Protocetids are Eocene whales that represent a unique semiaquatic stage in that dramatic evolutionary transformation. Here, we report on a new medium-sized protocetid, Phiomicetus anubis gen. et sp. nov., consisting of a partial skeleton from the middle Eocene (Lutetian) of the Fayum Depression in Egypt. The new species differs from other protocetids in having large, elongated temporal fossae, anteriorly placed pterygoids, elongated parietals, an unfused mandibular symphysis that terminates at the level of P₃, and a relatively enlarged I₃. Unique features of the skull and mandible suggest a capacity for

SUBMITTER: Gohar AS 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8385364 | biostudies-literature | 2021 Aug

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature