Aglaocetus

Aglaocetus is a genus of extinct baleen whales known from the Miocene of Patagonia, the US Eastern Seaboard, Japan and the Low Countries. It was once considered a member of Cetotheriidae along with many other putative cetotheres, but was recently recognized as representing a distinct family from true Cetotheriidae.

Aglaocetus

Jonathan Chen · CC BY-SA 4.0 · via Wikipedia/Commons. May be a photograph of a specimen, or an artist’s reconstruction — an interpretation of a skeleton, since colour and soft tissue are almost never preserved.

On record

Recorded, not inferred
Sits inside
BalaenopteroideaPBDB
Diet
carnivore, suspension feederPBDB, for Mysticeti
Life habit
aquaticPBDB, for Mysticeti
Motility
actively mobilePBDB, for Cetacea
Environment
marinePBDB, for Mysticeti

Time the record covers

At least 10 million years on record.

The record covers at least 15.98 Mya to 5.333 Mya. No occurrence read is dated outside 20.45 Mya to 2.58 Mya.

Miocene — about 14 of 16 occurrencesMiocenePliocene — about 2 of 16 occurrencesPliocenePleistocene — about 0 of 16 occurrences21–20 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences20–20 Mya — about 0.4 occurrences20–19 Mya — about 0.4 occurrences19–18 Mya — about 0.4 occurrences18–18 Mya — about 0.4 occurrences18–17 Mya — about 0.4 occurrences17–17 Mya — about 0.4 occurrences17–16 Mya — about 0.4 occurrences16–15 Mya — about 0.6 occurrences15–15 Mya — about 0.6 occurrences15–14 Mya — about 0.6 occurrences14–13 Mya — about 0.8 occurrences13–13 Mya — about 0.9 occurrences13–12 Mya — about 0.9 occurrences12–12 Mya — about 0.8 occurrences12–11 Mya — about 0.8 occurrences11–10 Mya — about 0.8 occurrences10–9.6 Mya — about 0.8 occurrences9.6–9.0 Mya — about 0.8 occurrences9.0–8.4 Mya — about 0.8 occurrences8.4–7.7 Mya — about 0.8 occurrences7.7–7.1 Mya — about 0.7 occurrences7.1–6.5 Mya — about 0.2 occurrences6.5–5.9 Mya — about 0.2 occurrences5.9–5.2 Mya — about 0.2 occurrences5.2–4.6 Mya — about 0.5 occurrences4.6–4.0 Mya — about 0.5 occurrences4.0–3.3 Mya — about 0.5 occurrences3.3–2.7 Mya — about 0.5 occurrences2.7–2.1 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences15.98 Mya5.333 Mya20.9 Mya2.1 Mya

16 occurrences of Aglaocetus on record, most of them in the Miocene. Bar height is expected occurrences, not a count: each fossil is spread across the span it is dated to, so a tall narrow bar means tight dating and a low wide one means loose.

When

16 occurrences

These are dates about fossils, not the animal: the record can only begin after it arose and end before it died out, so either end may reach further. Shares are expected occurrences: a fossil dated to a span is counted partly in each period it straddles. More on what this infers.

Found in

9 formations

Diest — 51.18°N, 4.83°EDiest — 51.22°N, 4.46°EBreda — 52.15°N, 6.61°EBerchem — 51.22°N, 4.46°EGaiman — 43.33°S, 65.32°WGaiman — 45.67°S, 67.44°WItahashi — 34.87°N, 133.01°EChoptank — 38.39°N, 76.57°WGroote Heide — 52.04°N, 6.67°EDeist — 51.19°N, 4.46°EKorematsu — 34.87°N, 133.01°E

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The named rock units Aglaocetus has been recovered from, largest first. Drawn where the rock is now, not where it formed. 2 occurrences have no formation on record, which is common for older literature.

Aglaocetus and its relatives

Miocene

Where Aglaocetus and its relatives were recorded in the Miocene.

Found in the same rock

126 taxa

The Paleobiology Database records 13 sites for Aglaocetus, and this reads all of them. The number is how many of those sites it was catalogued from too. The 24 sharing the most are listed.

This is not a list of everything alive at the time. It is only what has come out of the same ground as this animal and been written down.

Entered from

13 references

Each of the 16 occurrences read was entered from one of these publications, ordered by how many each accounts for. This is not a search for papers mentioning the name. 1 further reference is not listed. Entries link to doi.org where the Paleobiology Database holds an identifier, and to its own record where it does not. Relayed as the Paleobiology Database holds them, not checked against what they resolve to.

Media and terms

Media content2

Picture of Aglaocetus

Credit
Jonathan Chen
Licence
CC BY-SA 4.0
Commercial use
the licence allows it

CT scan

Licence
In Copyright
Commercial use
cannot be read from the licence given — check the record
Specimen
Aglaocetus patulus · usnm:paleobiology:23690

Smithsonian Open Access was not reached for this taxon, so this list is what the others held rather than everything there is.

The description on this site

Licence
CC BY-SA 4.0

This is what the site found, which is not the same as what exists.

Keep going

What may have been alongside itBalaenopteroidea through timeFormations of the MioceneThe world it lived on

Occurrence data from the Paleobiology Database, CC BY 4.0. Kellogg 1934