Orycterocetus Temporal range: Miocene | |
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Scientific classification ![]() | |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Chordata |
Class: | Mammalia |
Order: | Artiodactyla |
Infraorder: | Cetacea |
Family: | Physeteridae |
Genus: | † Orycterocetus Leidy, 1853 |
Species | |
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Orycterocetus is an extinct genus of sperm whale from the Miocene of the northern Atlantic Ocean.
Orycterocetus is a member of Physeteroidea closely related to crown-group sperm whales. The type species, O. quadratidens, was first named by Joseph Leidy on the basis of two teeth, two partial mandibular rami, and a rib from Neogene deposits of Virginia. [1] Two more species were subsequently described, O. cornutidens Leidy 1856 [2] and O. crocodilinus Cope, 1868, [3] the latter from the middle Miocene Calvert Formation.