Rodhocetus is an extinct genus of protocetid early whale known from the Lutetian of Pakistan. The best-known protocetid, Rodhocetus is known from two partial skeletons that taken together give a complete image of an Eocene whale that had short limbs with long hands and feet that were probably webbed and a sacrum that was immobile with four partially fused sacral vertebrae. It is one of several extinct whale genera that possess land mammal characteristics, thus demonstrating the evolutionary transition from land to sea.
Pakicetidae is an extinct family of Archaeoceti that lived during the Early Eocene in Pakistan.
The evolutionary history of cetaceans is thought to have occurred in the Indian subcontinent from even-toed ungulates 50 million years ago, over a period of at least 15 million years. Cetaceans are fully aquatic marine mammals belonging to the order Artiodactyla, and branched off from other artiodactyls around 50 mya. Cetaceans are thought to have evolved during the Eocene or earlier, sharing a closest common ancestor with hippopotamuses. Being mammals, they surface to breathe air; they have 5 finger bones (even-toed) in their fins; they nurse their young; and, despite their fully aquatic life style, they retained many skeletal features from their terrestrial ancestors. Discoveries starting in the late 1970s in Pakistan revealed several stages in the transition of cetaceans from land to sea.
Ambulocetus is an early cetacean from Pakistan. It is named as such because it had short limbs and large feet used for swimming. Along with other members of Ambulocetidae, it is a transitional fossil that shows how whales evolved from land-living mammals. While its name stems from the historical hypothesis that it was capable of walking on land, more recent research suggests that it was fully aquatic like modern cetaceans.
Pakicetus is an extinct genus of amphibious cetacean of the family Pakicetidae, which was endemic to Pakistan during the Eocene. The vast majority of paleontologists regard it as the most basal whale.
Archaeoceti, or Zeuglodontes in older literature, is a paraphyletic group of primitive cetaceans that lived from the Early Eocene to the late Oligocene. Representing the earliest cetacean radiation, they include the initial amphibious stages in cetacean evolution, thus are the ancestors of both modern cetacean suborders, Mysticeti and Odontoceti. This initial diversification occurred in the shallow waters that separated India and Asia 53 to 45 mya, resulting in some 30 species adapted to a fully oceanic life; though both echolocation and filter-feeding evolved during a second radiation 36 to 35 mya.
Ichthyolestes is a genus of extinct early whale belonging to the family Pakicetidae endemic to northern Pakistan, living during the Lutetian stage.
Kutchicetus is an extinct genus of early whale of the family Remingtonocetidae that lived during Early-Middle Eocene in what is now the coastal border of Pakistan and India. It is closely related to Andrewsiphius with which it was synonymized by Gingerich et al. 2001. Thewissen & Bajpai 2009 proposed a new clade, Andrewsiphiinae, for the two species. Later authors, however, still accept both as separate genera.
Remingtonocetus is an extinct genus of early cetacean freshwater aquatic mammals of the family Remingtonocetidae endemic to the coastline of the ancient Tethys Ocean during the Eocene. It was named after naturalist Remington Kellogg.
Maiacetus is a genus of early middle Eocene cetacean from Pakistan.
Remingtonocetidae is a diverse family of early aquatic mammals of the order Cetacea. The family is named after paleocetologist Remington Kellogg.
Phenacodontidae is an extinct family of large herbivorous mammals traditionally placed in the “wastebasket taxon” Condylarthra, which may instead represent early-stage perissodactyls. They lived between the Paleocene and Eocene epochs and their fossil remains have been found in North America and Europe.
Attockicetus is an extinct genus of remingtonocetid early whale known from the Middle Eocene (Lutetian) Kuldana Formation in the Kala Chitta Hills, in the Attock District of Punjab, Pakistan.
Babiacetus is an extinct genus of early cetacean that lived during the late Lutetian middle Eocene of India . It was named after its type locality, the Harudi Formation in the Babia Hills, Kutch District, Gujarat, India.
Pappocetus is an extinct protocetid cetacean known from the Eocene of Nigeria and Togo.
Andrewsiphius is an extinct remingtonocetid early whale known from the Eocene of Gujarat and Kutch, India and Balochistan, Pakistan.
Indocetus is a protocetid early whale known from the late early Eocene Harudi Formation in Kutch, India.
Obergfellia is an extinct genus of stem perissodactyl from the middle Eocene, discovered in 1980. Its known range includes northern India and Pakistan.
Dhedacetus hyaeni is a protocetid cetacean from the middle Eocene. It is the only species in the genus Dhedacetus. The type specimen was recovered from the Indian Harudi Formation near the town of Dhedadi, Kutch.
