Cetaceamorpha

Cetaceamorpha
Temporal range: 53.5–0 Ma Early Eocene–present
Cachalot with calf
Restoration of Khirtharia inflata
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Mammalia
Order: Artiodactyla
Suborder: Whippomorpha
Clade: Cetaceamorpha
Spaulding, O'Leary, & Gatesy, 2009
Subgroups
Synonyms

Pancetacea Deméré, 2013 [2020]

Basilosaurus, an extinct Cetacean.

Cetaceamorpha (sometimes also known as Pan-Cetacea) is a clade of whippomorph artiodactyl mammals that was named in 2009 by Spaulding, O'Leary, & Gatesy. The authors defined it as the total clade including Cetacea plus all extinct taxa more closely related to extant cetaceans than to any other living species. This was meant to replace the total clade definition of Cetacea, with the authors opting to restrict its scope to the crown group, i.e., extant species. In 2020 Deméré published the name "Pan-Cetacea" under the PhyloCode. While Deméré admits both Cetaceamorpha and Pan-Cetacea are synonymous, and the former exists first, he argues that the creation of Pan-Cetacea is more in accordance with the proper guidelines of the PhyloCode using the "pan" prefix.

Members of this group include Cetacea and the extinct Eocene family Raoellidae. Both sister clades shared dense bones and the presence of the auditory bulla.

References

  1. ↑ Spaulding, Michelle; O'Leary, Maureen A.; Gatesy, John (2009). "Relationships of Cetacea (Artiodactyla) among mammals: increased taxon sampling alters interpretations of key fossils and character evolution". PLOS ONE. 4 (9) e7062. Bibcode:2009PLoSO...4.7062S. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0007062. PMC 2740860. PMID 19774069.
  2. ↑ Deméré, T. A. (2020). "Pan-Cetacea". In de Queiroz, K.; Cantino, P. D.; Gauthier, J. A. (eds.). Phylonyms: A Companion to the PhyloCode. Boca Raton, FL: CRC Press. pp. 955–958.