Messapicetus
Extinct genus of beaked whale
Messapicetus is an extinct genus of beaked whale from the Late Miocene. It currently holds two species, M. longirostris from the Tortonian of Italy and M. gregarius from the Pisco Formation of Peru. However, a third unnamed species is represented in the St. Marys Formation of Maryland known from fragmentary material. M. gregarius is sexually dimorphic, males having tusks which are hypothesized to have been used in intraspecific combat for mates as in extant (living) beaked whales. Messapicetus reached a body length of about 4.1-4.5 meters (13-15 ft) and weighed 1.8 metric tons (2.0 short tons).
Sources and credits
This article is adapted from the Wikipedia article “Messapicetus”, written by its contributors and licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Fathomly has changed the layout, removed citation markers, navigation and maintenance notices, and adjusted punctuation. This adapted version is shared under the same license. For references, see the original article.
Images, from Wikimedia Commons:
- Messapicetus gregarius e M. longirostris.jpg by Bianucci G., Collareta A., Post K., Varola A. & Lambert O. (2016), CC BY-SA 4.0
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