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Cetotheriidae

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Cetotheriidae is a family of baleen whales (parvorder Mysticeti). The family is known to have existed from the Late Oligocene to the Early Pleistocene before going extinct. Although some phylogenetic studies conducted by recovered the living pygmy right whale as a member of Cetotheriidae, making the pygmy right whale the only living cetotheriid, other authors either dispute this placement or recover Neobalaenidae as a sister group to Cetotheriidae.

Wikidata facts

Parent taxon
Mysticeti
Image
Caperea marginata 3.jpg
Show 4 more facts
taxon rank
family
taxon name
Cetotheriidae
topic's main category
Category:Cetotheriidae
Commons category
Cetotheriidae
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Encyclopedic overview

5 sections
Contents
  • Taxonomy
  • References
  • Notes
  • Sources
  • External links

Cetotheriidae is a family of baleen whales (parvorder Mysticeti). The family is known to have existed from the Late Oligocene to the Early Pleistocene before going extinct. Although some phylogenetic studies conducted by recovered the living pygmy right whale as a member of Cetotheriidae, making the pygmy right whale the only living cetotheriid, other authors either dispute this placement or recover Neobalaenidae as a sister group to Cetotheriidae.

==Taxonomy== After its description by Brant in 1872, Cetotheriidae was used as a wastebasket taxon for baleen whales which were not assignable to extant whale families.

Excerpted from Wikipedia’s “Cetotheriidae” article, available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.