Protocetid cetaceans (Mammalia) from the Eocene of India
Cetacea; India; hearing; Paleontology; morphology; origin; pakistan; Eocene; locomotor evolution; Mammalia; middle eocene; earliest cetaceans; ambulocetidae; early whales; kutch; New genus; New species
Protocetid cetaceans were first described from the Eocene of India in 1975, but many more specimens have been discovered since then and are described here. All specimens are from District Kutch in the State of Gujarat and were recovered in deposits approximately 42 million years old. Valid species described in the past include Indocetus ramani, Babiacetus indicus and B. mishrai. We here describe new material for Indocetus, including lower teeth and deciduous premolars. We also describe two new genera and species: Kharodacetus sahnii and Dhedacetus hyaeni. Kharodacetus is mostly based on a very well preserved rostrum and mandibles with teeth, and Dhedacetus is based on a partial skull with vertebral column. The Kutch protocetid fauna differs from the protocetid fauna of the Pakistani Sulaiman Range, possibly because the latter is partly older, and/or because it samples a different environment, being located on the trailing edge of the Indian Plate, directly exposed to the Indian Ocean.
Bajpai S; Thewissen J G M
Palaeontologia Electronica
2014
2014
Journal Article or Conference Abstract Publication
n/a
Postcranial Morphology And Locomotion Of The Eocene Raoellid Indohyus (artiodactyla: Mammalia)
Artiodactyla; bone-density; Cetacea; cetartiodactyla; earliest cetaceans; early whales; evolution; fur seals; india; Indohyus; Life Sciences & Biomedicine - Other Topics; origin; osteosclerosis; pakistan; Paleontology; postcrania; Raoellidae; sea lions
Cooper L N; Thewissen J G M; Bajpai S; Tiwari B N
Historical Biology
2012
1905-07
Journal Article or Conference Abstract Publication
<a href="http://doi.org/10.1080/08912963.2011.624184" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">10.1080/08912963.2011.624184</a>
New Middle Eocene Archaeocetes (cetacea:mammalia) From The Kuldana Formation Of Northern Pakistan
artiodactyls; cetaceans; early whales; evolution; locomotion; mammalia; origin; Paleontology; time; transition
Cooper L N; Thewissen J G M; Hussain S T
Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology
2009
2009-12
Journal Article or Conference Abstract Publication
<a href="http://doi.org/10.1671/039.029.0423" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">10.1671/039.029.0423</a>