Willungacetus

Willungacetus Temporal range: Oligocene PreꞒ Ꞓ O S D C P T J K Pg N
Scientific classification
Domain:	Eukaryota
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Mammalia
Order:	Artiodactyla
Infraorder:	Cetacea
Family:	†Aetiocetidae (?)
Genus:	†Willungacetus Pledge 2005
Species
†W. aldingensis Pledge 2005

Willungacetus is an extinct genus of primitive baleen whale of the family Aetiocetidae known from the Oligocene of Australia (at Port Willunga, 35.3°S 138.5°E / -35.3; 138.5, paleocoordinates 52.9°S 133.7°E / -52.9; 133.7).^[1][2] It is the oldest-known whale from Australia,^[3] and the only aetiocetid whale currently known from the Southern Hemisphere.

Neville S. Pledge first visited the type locality in 1983 and collected two boulders. These two rocks, however, were forgotten until 2001 when a partial vertebra were discovered within. The site was subsequently revisited and another specimen, a partial cranium, was discovered. Pledge referred a radius, collected from the same cliff in 1994, to his newly named species.^[4]

Pledge provisionally assigned Willungacetus to Aetiocetidae, but this assignment still needs to be confirmed.^[5]

Sister taxa

• Aetiocetus
• Ashorocetus
• Chonecetus
• Morawanocetus

References

Notes

1. "Willungacetus". Fossilworks. Retrieved 17 December 2021.
2. "Port Willunga cliffs (Oligocene of Australia)". Fossilworks. Retrieved 17 December 2021.
3. "South Australia Museum - Objects of Interest". South Australian Museum. Archived from the original on 2 October 2009. Retrieved 3 July 2008.
4. Pledge 2005, pp. 123–124
5. Deméré & Berta 2008, p. 308

Sources

• Deméré, T. A.; Berta, A. (2008). "Skull anatomy of the Oligocene toothed mysticete Aetioceus weltoni (Mammalia; Cetacea): implications for mysticete evolution and functional anatomy" (PDF). Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society. 154 (2): 308–352. doi:10.1111/j.1096-3642.2008.00414.x.
• Pledge, N. S. (2005). "A New Species of Early Oligocene Cetacean from Port Willunga, South Australia". Memoirs of the Queensland Museum. 51 (1): 123–133. Retrieved 17 December 2021.
  • "N. S. Pledge 2005". Fossilworks.