Archaeoceti

Archaeoceti, or Zeuglodontes in older literature, is an obsolete paraphyletic group of primitive cetaceans that lived from the Early Eocene to the late Oligocene. Representing the earliest cetacean radiation, they include the initial semi-aquatic stages in cetacean evolution, thus are the ancestors of both modern cetacean suborders, Mysticeti and Odontoceti. This initial diversification occurred in the shallow waters that separated India and Asia 53 to 45 mya, resulting in some 30 species adapted to a fully oceanic life. Echolocation and filter-feeding evolved during a second radiation 36 to 35 mya.

Archaeoceti

Jean-Pierre Dalbéra from Paris, France · CC BY 2.0 · 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
CetaceaPBDB
Diet
carnivorePBDB, for Cetacea
Life habit
aquatic, depth=surfacePBDB, for Cetacea
Motility
actively mobilePBDB, for Cetacea
Environment
marinePBDB, for Cetacea

Time the record covers

At least 13 million years on record.

The record covers at least 41.03 Mya to 27.3 Mya. No occurrence read is dated outside 56 Mya to 23.04 Mya.

Paleocene — about 0 of 22 occurrencesEocene — about 21 of 22 occurrencesEoceneOligocene — about 1 of 22 occurrencesOligoceneMiocene — about 0 of 22 occurrences57–56 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences56–54 Mya — about 0.2 occurrences54–53 Mya — about 0.2 occurrences53–52 Mya — about 0.2 occurrences52–51 Mya — about 0.2 occurrences51–50 Mya — about 0.2 occurrences50–49 Mya — about 0.2 occurrences49–48 Mya — about 0.5 occurrences48–46 Mya — about 0.8 occurrences46–45 Mya — about 0.8 occurrences45–44 Mya — about 0.8 occurrences44–43 Mya — about 0.8 occurrences43–42 Mya — about 0.8 occurrences42–41 Mya — about 1 occurrence41–40 Mya — about 2 occurrences40–38 Mya — about 2 occurrences38–37 Mya — about 2 occurrences37–36 Mya — about 3 occurrences36–35 Mya — about 2 occurrences35–34 Mya — about 2 occurrences34–33 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences33–32 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences32–30 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences30–29 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences29–28 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences28–27 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences27–26 Mya — about 0.3 occurrences26–25 Mya — about 0.3 occurrences25–24 Mya — about 0.3 occurrences24–22 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences41.03 Mya27.3 Mya56.7 Mya22.4 Mya

22 occurrences of Archaeoceti on record, most of them in the Eocene. 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

22 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

13 formations

Subathu — 33.58°N, 73.97°ESubathu — 33.48°N, 74.03°EOcala — 30.05°N, 83.18°WOcala — 29.60°N, 82.39°WYazoo — 32.39°N, 89.48°WYazoo — 32.27°N, 89.39°WHabib Rahi — 29.93°N, 70.12°EHabib Rahi — 30.85°N, 70.21°ETe Whanga Limestone — 43.78°S, 176.55°EGebel Hof — 28.45°N, 31.83°EBurnside — 44.49°S, 170.68°EBrockenhurst Beds — 50.82°N, 1.57°WOtekaike Limestone — 44.96°S, 170.65°EDrazinda — 30.90°N, 70.23°ELa Meseta — 64.24°S, 56.65°WGehlberg — 52.22°N, 11.01°EBarton Beds — 50.74°N, 1.69°W

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The named rock units Archaeoceti has been recovered from, largest first. Drawn where the rock is now, not where it formed. 4 occurrences have no formation on record, which is common for older literature.

Archaeoceti and its relatives

Eocene

Where Archaeoceti and its relatives were recorded in the Eocene.

Found in the same rock

66 taxa

The Paleobiology Database records 21 sites for Archaeoceti, 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

16 references

Each of the 22 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. 4 further references are not listed. Each entry links to the Paleobiology Database's own record for the work.

Media and terms

Media content1

Picture of Archaeoceti

Credit
Jean-Pierre Dalbéra from Paris, France
Licence
CC BY 2.0
Commercial use
the licence allows it

No 3D scan was found. Smithsonian Open Access, MorphoSource and Sketchfab were all searched.

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 itCetacea through timeFormations of the EoceneThe world it lived on

Occurrence data from the Paleobiology Database, CC BY 4.0. (Flower 1883)