Miocaperea facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Miocaperea |
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Scientific classification  |
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| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Mammalia |
| Order: | Artiodactyla |
| Infraorder: | Cetacea |
| Family: | Cetotheriidae |
| Subfamily: | Neobalaeninae |
| Genus: | †Miocaperea Bisconti, 2012 |
| Species | |
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†M. pulchra Bisconti, 2012 (type) |
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Miocaperea is an extinct type of whale that lived a long time ago. It belongs to a group called pygmy right whales. This ancient whale lived during the Miocene period, which was about 11.6 to 7.2 million years ago. Its fossils were found in the Pisco Formation in Peru. The only known species of Miocaperea is Miocaperea pulchra.
Discovering Miocaperea
The discovery of Miocaperea was very important for scientists. Before this, very little was known about a group of whales called neobalaenines from the fossil record. The only other fossil evidence was a small ear bone found in Australia.
What Miocaperea tells us
Finding Miocaperea helped scientists learn more about when these whales first appeared. Earlier studies suggested that neobalaenines split off from other baleen whales (called mysticetes) around 23 million years ago. The age of Miocaperea supports this idea, showing that this group of whales has a very long history. It helps us understand the evolution of whales better.
