Masracetus

Masracetus
Temporal range: 37.2–33.9 Ma
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Restoration
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Mammalia
Order: Artiodactyla
Infraorder: Cetacea
Family: †Basilosauridae
Subfamily: †Dorudontinae
Genus: †Masracetus
Gingerich 2007
Species

Masracetus (from Arabic Masr, "Egypt", and Greek ketos, "whale")[1] is an extinct genus of basilosaurid ancient whale known from the Late Eocene (Priabonian, 37.2 to 33.9 million years ago) of Egypt.[2]

Life restoration

Masracetus was briefly described in an addendum by Gingerich 2007 and is known from just an assemblage of vertebrae and a poorly reconstructed skull from 1908. The lumbar vertebrae are large but relatively short (anteroposteriorly) compared to those of other archaeocetes; the diameter is almost the same as for Basilosaurus isis but the length is less than half of the latter. Masracetus is larger than Cynthiacetus,[3] but it is suggested that the former might be synonymized as a junior synonym with the latter.[4]

The species name honours Richard Markgraf, palaeontologist Ernst Stromer's fossil collector, who collected the type specimen in 1905.[1]

Masracetus' type locality is the Birket Qarun Formation in Dimê (29°30′N 30°42′E / 29.5°N 30.7°E / 29.5; 30.7, paleocoordinates 24°54′N 26°36′E / 24.9°N 26.6°E / 24.9; 26.6) north of lake Birket Qarun,[5] but specimens have also been found in the Qattara Depression and Fayum.[6][7][8][9]

  1. ^ a b Gingerich 2007, Etymology, p. 375
  2. ^ Masracetus in the Paleobiology Database. Retrieved July 2013.
  3. ^ Gingerich 2007, p. 375
  4. ^ Martínez-Cáceres, M.; Lambert, O.; De Muizon, C. (2017). "The anatomy and phylogenetic affinities of Cynthiacetus peruvianus, a large Dorudon-like basilosaurid (Cetacea, Mammalia) from the late Eocene of Peru" (PDF). Geodiversitas, Museum National d'Histoire Naturelle Paris. 39 (1): 7–163. doi:10.5252/g2017n1a1. S2CID 90142285.
  5. ^ Dimeh (Eocene of Egypt) in the Paleobiology Database. Retrieved July 2013.
  6. ^ Masracetus markgrafi in the Paleobiology Database. Retrieved July 2013.
  7. ^ Qattara Depression (Eocene of Egypt) in the Paleobiology Database. Retrieved July 2013.
  8. ^ Minqar Tibaghbagh (Eocene of Egypt) in the Paleobiology Database. Retrieved July 2013.
  9. ^ Minqar el-Hut (Eocene of Egypt) in the Paleobiology Database. Retrieved July 2013.