Scaldicetus

Scaldicetus is an extinct genus of highly predatory macroraptorial sperm whale. Although widely used for a number of extinct physeterids with primitive dental morphology consisting of enameled teeth, Scaldicetus as generally recognized appears to be a wastebasket taxon filled with more-or-less unrelated primitive sperm whales.

Scaldicetus

Ghedoghedo · CC BY-SA 3.0 · 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
PhyseteroideaPBDB
Diet
carnivorePBDB, for Odontoceti
Life habit
aquatic, depth=surfacePBDB, for Cetacea
Motility
actively mobilePBDB, for Cetacea
Environment
marine,freshwaterPBDB, for Odontoceti

Time the record covers

At least 17 million years on record.

The record covers at least 20.45 Mya to 2.58 Mya. No occurrence read is dated outside 23.04 Mya to 11.7 ka.

Oligocene — about 0 of 71 occurrencesMiocene — about 54 of 71 occurrencesMiocenePliocene — about 12 of 71 occurrencesPliocenePleistocene — about 6 of 71 occurrencesPleistocene24–23 Mya — about 0.2 occurrences23–22 Mya — about 0.5 occurrences22–21 Mya — about 0.5 occurrences21–20 Mya — about 0.5 occurrences20–20 Mya — about 1 occurrence20–19 Mya — about 1 occurrence19–18 Mya — about 1 occurrence18–17 Mya — about 1 occurrence17–16 Mya — about 1 occurrence16–16 Mya — about 1 occurrence16–15 Mya — about 2 occurrences15–14 Mya — about 2 occurrences14–13 Mya — about 2 occurrences13–13 Mya — about 3 occurrences13–12 Mya — about 3 occurrences12–11 Mya — about 4 occurrences11–10 Mya — about 4 occurrences10–9.4 Mya — about 4 occurrences9.4–8.6 Mya — about 4 occurrences8.6–7.8 Mya — about 4 occurrences7.8–7.1 Mya — about 4 occurrences7.1–6.3 Mya — about 5 occurrences6.3–5.5 Mya — about 5 occurrences5.5–4.7 Mya — about 4 occurrences4.7–3.9 Mya — about 4 occurrences3.9–3.1 Mya — about 3 occurrences3.1–2.4 Mya — about 3 occurrences2.4–1.6 Mya — about 4 occurrences1.6–785 ka Mya — about 0.7 occurrences785 ka–0 Mya — about 0.2 occurrences20.45 Mya2.58 Mya23.5 Mya0 Mya

71 occurrences of Scaldicetus on record, most of them in the Miocene. 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

71 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

30 formations

Red Crag — 51.96°N, 1.35°EPeace River — 27.83°N, 81.97°WPeace River — 27.76°N, 81.83°WPeace River — 27.78°N, 81.94°WPietra Leccese — 40.35°N, 18.17°EPietra Leccese — 40.15°N, 18.30°ESalsomaggiore — 44.73°N, 10.03°ESan Mateo — 33.20°N, 117.37°WBlack Rock Sandstone — 37.99°S, 145.04°EBlack Rock Sandstone — 37.98°S, 145.05°EUrizura — 36.48°N, 140.52°EUrizura — 36.54°N, 140.36°ESables d'Anvers — 51.17°N, 4.39°EBreda — 52.15°N, 6.61°EBreda — 51.97°N, 6.72°EKadonosawa — 39.35°N, 140.77°ELibano Sandstone — 46.14°N, 12.22°EGrange Burn — 37.73°S, 141.94°EPort Campbell Limestone — 38.38°S, 142.58°EDrakes Bay — 37.99°N, 123.00°WCapistrano — 33.56°N, 117.71°WHaraichi — 36.32°N, 138.88°EBrackwater Molasse — 48.35°N, 9.86°ECalvert — 38.67°N, 76.53°WGroote Heide — 52.04°N, 6.67°EMonterey — 33.60°N, 117.80°WPurisima — 38.06°N, 122.97°WArcillas de Gibraleón — 37.38°N, 6.97°WComplejo Basal Transgresivo — 37.66°N, 5.53°WStatenville — 30.40°N, 83.00°W

Loading coastlines…

The named rock units Scaldicetus has been recovered from, largest first. Drawn where the rock is now, not where it formed. 6 further formations hold fewer occurrences each and are not listed. 27 occurrences have no formation on record, which is common for older literature.

Scaldicetus and its relatives

Miocene

Where Scaldicetus and its relatives were recorded in the Miocene.

Found in the same rock

912 taxa

The Paleobiology Database records 54 sites for Scaldicetus, 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

41 references

Each of the 71 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. 29 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 content2

Picture of Scaldicetus

Credit
Ghedoghedo
Licence
CC BY-SA 3.0
Commercial use
the licence allows it

3D model

Source
Sketchfab
Licence
CC Attribution
Commercial use
cannot be read from the licence given — check the record

Smithsonian Open Access was 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 itPhyseteroidea through timeFormations of the MioceneThe world it lived on

Occurrence data from the Paleobiology Database, CC BY 4.0. Du Bus 1867