| Pakicetus Fossil range: Early Eocene |
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| Pakicetus skull | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Mammalia |
| Order: | Cetacea |
| Suborder: | Archaeoceti |
| Family: | Pakicetidae |
| Subfamily: | Pakicetinae |
| Genus: | Pakicetus Gingerich & Russell, 1981 |
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Pakicetus is a genus of extinct terrestrial carnivorous mammal of the family Pakicetidae which was endemic to Asia from the Eocene (55.8 ± 0.2—40 ± 0.1 Ma). Pakicetus existed for approximately .[1]
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Taxonomy
Pakicetus was assigned to Protocetidae by Gingerich and Russell (1981), Carroll (1988) and Benton (1993). Then to Pakicetinae by Gingerich and Russell (1990) and McKenna and Bell (1997); and to Pakicetidae by Thewissen and Hussain (1998), Thewissen et al. (2001), Thewissen et al. (2001), Geisler and Sanders (2003), McLeod and Barnes (2008) and Uhen (2010).[1]
Fossil distribution
The first fossils were uncovered in Pakistan, hence their name. The strata of western Pakistan where the fossils were found was then the coastal region of the Tethys Sea.The first fossil, a lone skull, was thought to be a mesonychid, but Gingerich and Russell recognized it as an early cetacean from characteristic features of the inner ear, found only in cetaceans: the large auditory bulla is formed from the ectotympanic bone only. This suggests that it is a transitional species between extinct land mammals and modern cetaceans.[2]
Complete skeletons were discovered in 2001, revealing that Pakicetus was primarily a land animal, about the size of a wolf, and very similar in form to the related mesonychids.[3]
See also
References
- ^ a b Paleobiology Database: Pakicetus basic info
- ^ P. D. Gingerich & D. E. Russell, Pakicetus inachus, a new archaeocete (Mammalia, Cetacea) from the early-middle Eocene Kuldana Formation of Kohat (Pakistan). Univ. Mich. 1981, Contr. Mus. Paleont, Vol 25, 235–246
- ^ J. G. M. Thewissen, E. M. Williams, L. J. Roe and S. T. Hussain, Skeletons of terrestrial cetaceans and the relationship of whales to artiodactyls, Nature vol 413, pages 277–281, 2001.
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