Artiocetus
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Artiocetus Temporal range: early Lutetian |
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| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Clade: | Synapsida |
| Class: | Mammalia |
| Order: | Artiodactyla |
| Infraorder: | Cetacea |
| Family: | † |
| Subfamily: | † |
| Genus: |
†Artiocetus P. D. Gingerich et al. 2001 |
| Species | |
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Artiocetus clavis (type) |
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Artiocetus clavis (type)
Gingerich et al. 2001
Artiocetus is an extinct genus of early whales belonging to the family . It was a close relative to Rodhocetus and its tarsals indicate it resembled an artiodactyl.
Artiocetus' name arises from a combination of cetus and artiodactyl, as this fossil was the first to show that early whales possessed artiodactyl-like ankles.
Artiocetus belongs to the infraorder Cetacea, which includes whales, dolphins and porpoises. Cetus is a Latinized Greek word literally meaning "sea monster" and is used in biological names to mean "whale". It comes from Ancient Greek κῆτος (kētos), in reference to the sea monster goddess Ceto, daughter of Gaia and Pontus, and said to resemble a gigantic whale or fish.
Artiodactyla refers to the mammal order of even-toed ungulates the group containing cattle, deer, camels, giraffes, antelope, goats, sheep, pigs and hippopotamuses. If the animal has even number of toes, the weight is borne equally by the third and fourth toe. The shape of the astragalus is another key feature which has a double-pulley structure in artiodactyls, giving the foot greater flexibility.
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