Rhaphicetus

Rhaphicetus
	Reconstruction of the skull
Scientific classification
Domain:	Eukarya
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Mammalia
Order:	Artiodactyls
Infraorder:	Cetacea
Parvorder:	Odontoceti
Superfamily:	Physeteroidea
Genus:	Raphicetus
Binomial name
	Raphicetus valenciae;

Raphicetus is a genus of Cetacean belonging to the Physeteroidea superfamily that lived in Peru in the lower Miocene epoch around 18-19 million years ago. This genus contains one species, Raphicetus valenciae. It is one of the earliest branching stem Physteroid.^[1]

It possibly used its dentition to grasp relatively small prey via rapid movment of its head.

Description

This genus is medium sized with a estimated length of 4.7-5.7 meters. It has a narrow and cylindrical rostrum that comprises nearly 75% of the condylobasal length. The upper jaw has at least 36 teeth per quadrant.

References

^ Lambert, Olivier; and Bianucci, Giovanni (2020-10-17). "A new longirostrine sperm whale (Cetacea, Physeteroidea) from the lower Miocene of the Pisco Basin (southern coast of Peru)". Journal of Systematic Palaeontology. 18 (20): 1707–1742. doi:10.1080/14772019.2020.1805520. ISSN 1477-2019. {{cite journal}}: |first2= missing |last2= (help); |first3= missing |last3= (help)CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)

[1] Lambert, Olivier; and Bianucci, Giovanni (2020-10-17). "A new longirostrine sperm whale (Cetacea, Physeteroidea) from the lower Miocene of the Pisco Basin (southern coast of Peru)". Journal of Systematic Palaeontology. 18 (20): 1707–1742. doi:10.1080/14772019.2020.1805520. ISSN 1477-2019. {{cite journal}}: |first2= missing |last2= (help); |first3= missing |last3= (help)CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)

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