Herpetocetus

Herpetocetus is a genus of cetotheriid mysticete in the subfamily Herpetocetinae. Considerably smaller than modern baleen whales, Herpetocetus measured only 3 to 4 meters in length. Additionally, due to the structure of its jaw, it was unable to open its mouth as wide as modern baleen whales, making it incapable of lunge feeding.

Herpetocetus

N.Tamura · CC BY-SA 4.0 · via Wikipedia/Commons. May be a photograph of a specimen, or an artist’s reconstruction — an interpretation of a skeleton, since colour and soft tissue are almost never preserved.

On record

Recorded, not inferred
Sits inside
HerpetocetinaePBDB
Diet
carnivore, suspension feederPBDB, for Mysticeti
Life habit
aquaticPBDB, for Mysticeti
Motility
actively mobilePBDB, for Cetacea
Environment
marinePBDB, for Mysticeti

Time the record covers

At least 11 million years on record.

The record covers at least 13.82 Mya to 2.58 Mya. No occurrence read is dated outside 23.04 Mya to 11.7 ka.

Oligocene — about 0 of 52 occurrencesMiocene — about 9 of 52 occurrencesMiocenePliocene — about 40 of 52 occurrencesPliocenePleistocene — about 3 of 52 occurrencesPleistocene24–23 Mya — about 0.0 occurrences23–22 Mya — about 0.0 occurrences22–21 Mya — about 0.0 occurrences21–20 Mya — about 0.0 occurrences20–20 Mya — about 0.0 occurrences20–19 Mya — about 0.0 occurrences19–18 Mya — about 0.0 occurrences18–17 Mya — about 0.0 occurrences17–16 Mya — about 0.0 occurrences16–16 Mya — about 0.2 occurrences16–15 Mya — about 0.6 occurrences15–14 Mya — about 0.6 occurrences14–13 Mya — about 0.6 occurrences13–13 Mya — about 0.6 occurrences13–12 Mya — about 0.6 occurrences12–11 Mya — about 0.4 occurrences11–10 Mya — about 0.3 occurrences10–9.4 Mya — about 0.3 occurrences9.4–8.6 Mya — about 0.3 occurrences8.6–7.8 Mya — about 0.3 occurrences7.8–7.1 Mya — about 0.5 occurrences7.1–6.3 Mya — about 1 occurrence6.3–5.5 Mya — about 1 occurrence5.5–4.7 Mya — about 6 occurrences4.7–3.9 Mya — about 7 occurrences3.9–3.1 Mya — about 14 occurrences3.1–2.4 Mya — about 14 occurrences2.4–1.6 Mya — about 1 occurrence1.6–785 ka Mya — about 0.7 occurrences785 ka–0 Mya — about 0.3 occurrences13.82 Mya2.58 Mya23.5 Mya0 Mya

52 occurrences of Herpetocetus on record, most of them in the Pliocene. Bar height is expected occurrences, not a count: each fossil is spread across the span it is dated to, so a tall narrow bar means tight dating and a low wide one means loose.

When

52 occurrences

These are dates about fossils, not the animal: the record can only begin after it arose and end before it died out, so either end may reach further. Shares are expected occurrences: a fossil dated to a span is counted partly in each period it straddles. More on what this infers.

Found in

19 formations

San Diego — 32.90°N, 117.10°WSan Diego — 32.76°N, 117.14°WSan Diego — 32.64°N, 117.01°WSan Diego — 32.63°N, 117.10°WSan Diego — 32.68°N, 117.10°WSan Diego — 32.75°N, 117.18°WPurisima — 36.96°N, 121.96°WPurisima — 37.28°N, 122.41°WTatsunokuchi — 38.33°N, 140.81°ETatsunokuchi — 39.07°N, 141.18°ETatsunokuchi — 38.98°N, 141.12°ETatsunokuchi — 38.86°N, 141.04°EKattendijk — 51.26°N, 4.27°EKattendijk — 51.17°N, 4.85°EYorktown — 35.36°N, 76.82°WInagozawa — 35.15°N, 140.32°EFujina — 35.45°N, 133.06°ERed Crag — 51.96°N, 1.35°ESan Mateo — 33.21°N, 117.38°WNa-arai — 35.81°N, 140.81°ERosarito Beach — 32.12°N, 116.80°WDiest — 51.22°N, 4.46°EGroote Heide — 52.04°N, 6.67°EYushima — 38.98°N, 141.12°EZushi — 35.29°N, 139.59°ELillo — 51.25°N, 4.23°EFalor — 40.76°N, 123.87°WWaccamaw — 33.10°N, 80.31°WBahía Inglesa — 27.08°S, 70.84°W

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The named rock units Herpetocetus has been recovered from, largest first. Drawn where the rock is now, not where it formed. 4 occurrences have no formation on record, which is common for older literature.

Herpetocetus and its relatives

Pliocene

Where Herpetocetus and its relatives were recorded in the Pliocene.

Found in the same rock

727 taxa

The Paleobiology Database records 50 sites for Herpetocetus, and this reads all of them. The number is how many of those sites it was catalogued from too. The 24 sharing the most are listed.

This is not a list of everything alive at the time. It is only what has come out of the same ground as this animal and been written down.

Entered from

19 references

Each of the 52 occurrences read was entered from one of these publications, ordered by how many each accounts for. This is not a search for papers mentioning the name. 7 further references are not listed. Entries link to doi.org where the Paleobiology Database holds an identifier, and to its own record where it does not. Relayed as the Paleobiology Database holds them, not checked against what they resolve to.

Media and terms

Media content1

Picture of Herpetocetus

Credit
N.Tamura
Licence
CC BY-SA 4.0
Commercial use
the licence allows it

No 3D scan of Herpetocetus was found in Sketchfab.

Smithsonian Open Access and MorphoSource were not reached for this taxon, so this list is what the others held rather than everything there is.

The description on this site

Licence
CC BY-SA 4.0

This is what the site found, which is not the same as what exists.

Keep going

What may have been alongside itHerpetocetinae through timeFormations of the PlioceneThe world it lived on

Occurrence data from the Paleobiology Database, CC BY 4.0. Van Beneden 1872