Cetacea

Skeletal reconstruction of Rodhocetus kasrani, from Gingerich et al. (2001).

Belongs within: Cetartiodactyla.
Contains: Basilosauridae, Mysticeti, Odontoceti.

The Cetacea includes the whales and dolphins. Modern cetaceans are strictly aquatic, with the external hindlimbs lost and the forelimbs modified into flippers. Fossil cetaceans of the stem-group, however, include amphibious forms with all limbs well developed. The most basal cetaceans, such as Pakicetus, were primarily terrestrial (Thewissen et al. 2001).

<==Cetacea [Archaeoceti, Pakicetidae, Pakicetinae]
    |  i. s.: Himalayacetus Bajpai & Gingerich 1998 G03
    |         Ichthyolestes Dehm & Oettingen-Spielberg 1958 G03
    |           `--I. pinfoldi TW01
    |         Prionodelphis rovereti Frenguelli 1922 BDR85
    |--Nalacetus Thewissen & Hussain 1998 GO01, G03
    |    `--N. ratimitus O98
    `--+--Pakicetus Gingerich & Russell 1981 GO01, G03
       |    |--P. attocki (West 1980) [=Protocetus attocki] N10
       |    `--P. inachus Gingerich & Russell 1981 N10
       `--+--Ambulocetidae G03
          |    |--Gandakasia Dehm & Oettingen-Spielberg 1958 G03
          |    |    `--G. potens N10
          |    `--Ambulocetus Thewissen et al. 1994 GO01, G03
          |         `--A. natans GH01
          `--+--Remingtonocetidae GO01
             |    |  i. s.: ‘Protocetus’ harudiensis Sahni & Mishra 1972 N10
             |    |         ‘Protocetus’ sloani Sahni & Mishra 1972 N10
             |    |--Andrewsiphius Sahni & Mishra 1975 G03
             |    |    |--A. kutchensis Sahni & Mishra 1972 N10
             |    |    `--A. minor Sahni & Mishra 1972 N10
             |    |--Remingtonocetus Kumar & Sahni 1986 G03
             |    |--Dalanistes Gingerich et al. 1995 G03
             |    |--Attockicetus Thewissen & Hussain 2000 G03
             |    `--Kutchicetus minimus TW01, N10
             `--+--+--Basilosauridae GO01
                |  `--Autoceta GS03
                |       |--Mysticeti GS03
                |       `--Odontoceti GS03
                `--Protocetidae GO01
                     |--Babiacetus Trivedy & Satsangi 1984 G03
                     |--Gaviacetus Gingerich et al. 1995 G03
                     |--Takracetus Gingerich et al. 1995 G03
                     |--Natchitochia Uhen 1998 G03
                     |--Qaisracetus Gingerich et al. 2001 G03
                     |--Artiocetus Gingerich, ul Haq et al. 2001 GH01
                     |    `--*A. clavis Gingerich, ul Haq et al. 2001 GH01
                     |--Protocetus Fraas 1904 BM78
                     |    `--*P. atavus Fraas 1904 BM78, G92
                     |--Eocetus Fraas 1904 [incl. Mesocetus Fraas 1904 nec van Beneden 1880 nec Moreno 1892] BM78
                     |    `--*E. schweinfurthi (Fraas 1904) BM78, G92 [=Mesocetus schweinfurthi G92]
                     |--Pappocetus Andrews 1920 BM78
                     |    `--*P. lugardi Andrews 1920 BM78
                     |--Indocetus Sahni & Mishra 1975 G03
                     |    `--I. ramani Sahni & Mishra 1975 BM78
                     |--Georgiacetus Hulbert et al. 1998 G03
                     |    `--G. vogtlensis GS03
                     `--Rodhocetus Gingerich, Raza et al. 1994 GH01
                          |--*R. kasranii GH01
                          `--R. balochistanensis Gingerich, ul Haq et al. 2001 GH01

*Type species of generic name indicated

REFERENCES

[BDR85] Barnes, L. G., D. P. Domning & C. E. Ray. 1985. Status of studies on fossil marine mammals. Marine Mammal Science 1 (1): 15-53.

[BM78] Barnes, L. G., & E. Mitchell. 1978. Cetacea. In Evolution of African Mammals (V. J. Maglio & H. B. S. Cooke, eds) pp. 582-602. Harvard University Press: Cambridge (Massachusetts).

[GO01] Gatesy, J., & M. A. O’Leary. 2001. Deciphering whale origins with molecules and fossils. Trends in Ecology and Evolution 16 (10): 562-570.

[GS03] Geisler, J. H., & A. E. Sanders. 2003. Morphological evidence for the phylogeny of Cetacea. Journal of Mammalian Evolution 10 (1-2): 23-129.

[G92] Gingerich, P. D. 1992. Marine mammals (Cetacea and Sirenia) from the Eocene of Gebel Mokattam and Fayum, Egypt: Stratigraphy, age, and paleoenvironments. University of Michigan Papers on Paleontology 30: i-ix, 1-84.

[G03] Gingerich, P. D. 2003. Land-to-sea transition in early whales: Evolution of Eocene Archaeoceti (Cetacea) in relation to skeletal proportions and locomotion of living semiaquatic mammals. Paleobiology 29 (3): 429-454.

[GH01] Gingerich, P. D., M. ul Haq, I. S. Zalmout, I. H. Khan & M. S. Malkani. 2001. Origin of whales from early artiodactyls: Hands and feet of Eocene Protocetidae from Pakistan. Science 293: 2239-2242.

[N10] Naish, D. 2010. Tetrapod Zoology: Book One. CFZ Press: Bideford (UK).

[O98] O’Leary, M. A. 1998. Phylogenetic and morphometric reassessment of the dental evidence for a mesonychian and cetacean clade. In The Emergence of Whales (J. G. M. Thewissen, ed.) pp. 133-161. Plenum Press: New York.

[TW01] Thewissen, J. G. M., E. M. Williams, L. J. Roe & S. T. Hussain. 2001. Skeletons of terrestrial cetaceans and the relationship of whales to artiodactyls. Nature 413: 277-281.