Africanacetus Explained

Africanacetus is an extinct genus of ziphiid cetacean known from skulls found in seafloor sediments of Late Miocene to Early Pliocene age off the coasts of South Africa (Banzare Bank) and Brazil (São Paulo Ridge).^[1]

Systematics

Two species are known, A. ceratopsis and A. gracilis. Both are distinguished by their cranial proportions, with A. gracilis having a more slender skull than A. ceratopsis.^{[2] [3]}

Notes and References

1. http://www.fossilworks.org/cgi-bin/bridge.pl?a=taxonInfo&taxon_no=113824 Africanacetus
2. G. Bianucci, O. Lambert, and K. Post. 2007. A high diversity in fossil beaked whales (Mammalia, Odontoceti, Ziphiidae) recovered by trawling from the sea floor off South Africa. Geodiversitas 29(4):561-618.
3. Ichishima, H., A.H.Augustin, T. Toyofuku, and H. Kitazato. 2016. A new species of Africanacetus (Odontoceti: Ziphiidae) found on the deep ocean floor off the coast of Brazil. Deep Sea Research Part II: Topical Studies in Oceanography. Online Early.