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Fragilicetus

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Fragilicetus
Temporal range: Early Pliocene
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Mammalia
Order: Artiodactyla
Infraorder: Cetacea
Family: Balaenopteridae
Genus: Fragilicetus
Bisconti and Bosselaers, 2016
Species:
F. velponi
Binomial name
Fragilicetus velponi
Bisconti and Bosselaers, 2016

Fragilicetus is an extinct genus of rorqual from Early Pliocene deposits in Belgium.

Description

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Fragilicetus exhibits a combination of balaenopterid features (shape of the supraorbital process of the frontal and significant details of the temporal fossa) and those found in Cetotheriidae and Eschrichtiidae (squamosal bulge and posteriorly protruded exoccipital).[1]

References

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  1. ^ Bisconti, Michelangelo; Bosselaers, Mark (2016). "Fragilicetus velponi: a new mysticete genus and species and its implications for the origin of Balaenopteridae (Mammalia, Cetacea, Mysticeti)". Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society. 177 (2): 450–474. doi:10.1111/zoj.12370.