Mauicetus facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Mauicetus |
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Scientific classification  |
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| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Mammalia |
| Order: | Artiodactyla |
| Infraorder: | Cetacea |
| Family: | Balaenopteridae (?) |
| Genus: | †Mauicetus Benham, 1939 |
| Type species | |
| Lophocephalus parki Benham, 1937
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| Synonyms | |
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Lophocephalus Benham, 1937 |
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Mauicetus is a genus of extinct baleen whale from the Late Oligocene of New Zealand.
Taxonomy
Mauicetus was originally named Lophocephalus by William Benham, but that name was already used for a beetle, and Benham provided the replacement name Mauicetus. Three more species were named in 1956: M. brevicollis, M. lophocephalus, and M. waitakiensis. Nowadays, Mauicetus parki is considered a stem-balaenopteroid, while M. lophocephalus and M. waitakiensis have been reclassified in Eomysticetidae, with M. lophocephalus and M. waitakiensis being assigned to Tokarahia and Tohoraata.
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Mauicetus Facts for Kids. Kiddle Encyclopedia.