Mithridatocetus

Mithridatocetus is a genus of cetotheriid mysticete in the subfamily Cetotheriinae. Known specimens have been found in marine deposits in Crimea, Ukraine, and the Russian Caucasus.

Mithridatocetus

Kora27 · 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
CetotheriinaePBDB
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 most 21 million years on record.

Every occurrence read is dated to somewhere between 23.04 Mya and 2.58 Mya, and nothing in the dating separates them, so that window is what the record shows rather than a span.

Oligocene — about 0 of 9 occurrencesMiocene — about 9 of 9 occurrencesMiocenePliocene — about 0 of 9 occurrencesPliocenePleistocene — about 0 of 9 occurrences24–23 Mya — about 0.0 occurrences23–22 Mya — about 0.0 occurrences22–21 Mya — about 0.0 occurrences21–21 Mya — about 0.0 occurrences21–20 Mya — about 0.0 occurrences20–19 Mya — about 0.0 occurrences19–19 Mya — about 0.0 occurrences19–18 Mya — about 0.0 occurrences18–17 Mya — about 0.0 occurrences17–16 Mya — about 0.0 occurrences16–16 Mya — about 0.0 occurrences16–15 Mya — about 0.0 occurrences15–14 Mya — about 0.0 occurrences14–14 Mya — about 0.4 occurrences14–13 Mya — about 1 occurrence13–12 Mya — about 2 occurrences12–11 Mya — about 1 occurrence11–11 Mya — about 0.7 occurrences11–9.9 Mya — about 0.7 occurrences9.9–9.2 Mya — about 0.7 occurrences9.2–8.5 Mya — about 0.7 occurrences8.5–7.8 Mya — about 0.7 occurrences7.8–7.1 Mya — about 0.5 occurrences7.1–6.4 Mya — about 0.0 occurrences6.4–5.7 Mya — about 0.0 occurrences5.7–4.9 Mya — about 0.0 occurrences4.9–4.2 Mya — about 0.0 occurrences4.2–3.5 Mya — about 0.0 occurrences3.5–2.8 Mya — about 0.0 occurrences2.8–2.1 Mya — about 0.0 occurrences23.5 Mya2.1 Mya

9 occurrences of Mithridatocetus 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

9 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

3 formations

Blinovo — 44.59°N, 40.08°EChersonian — 45.34°N, 36.46°EBlinovo — 45.27°N, 36.38°E

Loading coastlines…

The named rock units Mithridatocetus has been recovered from, largest first. Drawn where the rock is now, not where it formed. 6 occurrences have no formation on record, which is common for older literature.

Mithridatocetus and its relatives

Miocene

Where Mithridatocetus and its relatives were recorded in the Miocene.

Found in the same rock

12 taxa

The Paleobiology Database records 9 sites for Mithridatocetus, and this reads all of them. The number is how many of those sites it was catalogued from too.

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

5 references

Each of the 9 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. 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 content1

Picture of Mithridatocetus

Credit
Kora27
Licence
CC BY-SA 4.0
Commercial use
the licence allows it

No 3D scan of Mithridatocetus was found in MorphoSource and Sketchfab.

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 itCetotheriinae through timeFormations of the MioceneThe world it lived on

Occurrence data from the Paleobiology Database, CC BY 4.0. Goldin and Startsev 2017