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Comparison of even-toed ungulate and cetaceans genetic material has shown that the closest living relatives of whales and hippopotamuses is the paraphyletic group Artiodactyla. [ 7 ] [ 8 ] Dan Graur and Desmond Higgins were among the first to come to this conclusion, and included a paper published in 1994. [ 9 ]
The order Artiodactyla consists of 349 extant species belonging to 132 genera. This does not include hybrid species or extinct prehistoric species. Modern molecular studies indicate that the 132 genera can be grouped into 23 families; these families are grouped into named suborders and many are further grouped into named clades, and some of these families are subdivided into named subfamilies.
Archaeoceti ("ancient whales"), or Zeuglodontes in older literature, is a paraphyletic group of primitive cetaceans that lived from the Early Eocene to the late Oligocene 1] Representing the earliest cetacean radiation , they include the initial amphibious stages in cetacean evolution , thus are the ancestors of both modern cetacean suborders ...
A diagnostic feature often used by field scientists to distinguish Rice's whales from whales other than the Bryde's whale is the three prominent ridges that line the top of its head. The species can be distinguished from the Bryde's whale by the shape of the nasal bones , which have wider gaps due to a unique wrapping by the frontal bones , its ...
Sperm whales have the largest brain mass of any animal on Earth, averaging 8,000 cm 3 (490 in 3) and 7.8 kg (17 lb) in mature males. [24] The brain to body mass ratio in some odontocetes, such as belugas and narwhals, is second only to humans. [25] In some whales, however, it is less than half that of humans: 0.9% versus 2.1%. [citation needed]
The name Whippomorpha is a combination of English (wh[ale] + hippo[potamus]) and Greek (μορφή, morphē = form). [2]Some attempts have been made to rename the suborder Cetancodonta, due to the misleading utilization of the suffix -morpha for a crown group, [6] as well as the risk of confusion with the clade Hippomorpha (which consists of equid perissodactyls); [7] however Whippomorpha ...
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Artiocetus' name arises from a combination of cetus and artiodactyl, as this fossil was the first to show that early whales possessed artiodactyl-like ankles. Artiocetus belongs to the infraorder Cetacea, which includes whales, dolphins and porpoises. Cetus is a Latinized Greek word literally meaning "sea monster" and is used in biological ...