Babiacetus

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title: "Babiacetus" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["protocetidae", "prehistoric-cetacean-genera", "fossil-taxa-described-in-1984", "extinct-animals-of-india"] description: "Extinct protocetid early whale" topic_path: "geography/india" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Babiacetus" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0

::summary Extinct protocetid early whale ::

| name = Babiacetus |image= Babiacetus IITR-SB 2512.jpg |image_caption= lower jaw of Babiacetus | fossil_range = Middle Eocene, | taxon = Babiacetus | authority = | subdivision_ranks = Species | subdivision =

• B. indicus

• B. mishrai

Babiacetus is an extinct genus of early cetacean that lived during the late Lutetian middle Eocene of India (). It was named after its type locality, the Harudi Formation in the Babia Hills (: paleocoordinates ), Kutch District, Gujarat, India.

Discovery

Babiacetus was named by in an abstract based on the specimen's type (GSI 19647, left and right dentaries with cheek teeth).{{Cite web | title = Babiacetus | publisher = Palaeocritti | url = http://www.palaeocritti.com/by-group/eutheria/cetacea/archaeoceti/babiacetus | access-date = 27 March 2013}} Gingerich and colleagues found a skull (GSP-UM 3005, much of a skull and lower jaws) while collecting a skeleton of a new species of Protosiren (Protosiren sattaensis) in the Drazinda Formation (, paleocoordinates ) in the Sulaiman Range of Punjab, Pakistan. described both the original find and their new specimen. described B. mishrai from the specimen (RUSB 2512, a partial skull) collected in the Harudi Formation.

Description

Babiacetus is one of the larger protocetids weighing about 830 kg. Its hydrodynamic skull and pointed, anteroposteriorly (front-back) oriented incisors are typical of archaeocetes. A densely ossified auditory bulla and large mandibular canal indicate it was adapted for hearing in water. Babiacetus differs from pakicetids and ambulocetids (more primitive families) by the large mandibular foramen and a medially concave ascending ramus; distinct from remingtonocetids and basilosaurids (more derived families) by the single-cusped trigonid and talonid on the lower molars. Its long synostotic (fused) mandibular symphysis, which reaches as far back as P2, distinguishes it from Pappocetus and Georgiacetus (other protocetids). Its auditory bulla is more narrow than Rodhocetus'. Babiacetus lacks the prominent molar protocone present in Indocetus. The anterior premolars are large.

The mandible is longer in B. indicus than in B. mishrai, and P1 is single-rooted in the former but double-rooted in the latter. The diastemata between P1 and P4 in B. indicus is absent in B. mishrai. B. indicus has larger cheek teeth and a larger M3.

Palaeobiology

The teeth of Babiacetus exhibit substantial spalling, suggesting that this cetacean fed on hard-bodied prey of relatively large size. To date, only cranial remains have been found, hence nothing is known of Babicetus' mode of locomotion or degree of aquatic adaptation.

Notes

References

• {{Cite book | last1 = Bajpai | first1 = S. | last2 = Thewissen | first2 = J. G. M. | chapter = Middle Eocene Cetaceans from the Harudi and Subathu Formations of India | pages = 213–233 | editor-last = Thewissen | editor-first = J. G. M. | title = The Emergence of Whales | series = Advances in vertebrate paleobiology | year = 1998 | location = New York | publisher = Plenum Press | chapter-url = https://books.google.com/books?id=zgWIL6ELoJoC&pg=PA213 | access-date = 27 March 2013 | isbn = 9780306458538 | oclc = 300450327 }}
• {{Cite journal | last1 = Gingerich | first1 = Philip D. | last2 = Arif | first2 = Muhammad | last3 = Bhatti | first3 = M. Akram | last4 = Raza | first4 = Hilal A. | last5 = Raza | first5 = S. Mahmood | title = Protosiren and Babiacetus (Mammalia, Sirenia and Cetacea) from the Middle Eocene Drazinda Formation, Sulaiman Range, Punjab (Pakistan) | year = 1995 | journal = Contributions from the Museum of Paleontology | volume = 29 | issue = 12 | pages = 331–57 | hdl = 2027.42/48651 | oclc = 742731921 }}
• {{Cite journal | last1 = Trivedy | first1 = A. N. | last2 = Satsangi | first2 = P. P. | title = A new archaeocete (whale) from the Eocene of India | year = 1984 | journal = Abstracts of 27th International Geological Congress, Moscow | volume = 1 | pages = 322–23
• {{Cite book | last = Williams | first = Ellen M. | chapter = Synopsis of the Earliest Cetaceans | editor-last = Thewissen | editor-first = J. G. M. | title = The Emergence of Whales | series = Advances in vertebrate paleobiology | year = 1998 | location = New York | publisher = Plenum Press | chapter-url = https://books.google.com/books?id=zgWIL6ELoJoC&pg=PA12 | isbn = 9780306458538 | oclc = 300450327 }}

References

1. {{Paleodb. 53315. Babiacetus. Retrieved March 2013.
2. {{Paleodb. collection. 45592. Babia Hills. Retrieved April 2013.
3. {{Paleodb. collection. 76316. Harudi. Retrieved April 2013.
4. {{Harvnb. Gingerich. Arif. Bhatti. Raza. 1995
5. {{Paleodb. collection. 28980. Bari Nadi 2. Retrieved April 2013.
6. {{Harvnb. Bajpai. Thewissen. 1998
7. {{Paleodb. 63126. Babiacetus mishrai. Retrieved March 2013.
8. {{Harvnb. Gingerich. Arif. Bhatti. Raza. 1995
9. (1997). "''Basilosaurus drazindai'' and ''Basiloterus hussaini'', New Archaeoceti (Mammalia, Cetacea) from the Middle Eocene Drazinda Formation, with a Revised Interpretation of Ages of Whale-Bearing Strata in the Kirthar Group of the Sulaiman Range, Punjab (Pakistan)". Contributions from the Museum of Paleontology, University of Michigan.
10. {{Harvnb. Gingerich. Arif. Bhatti. Raza. 1995
11. {{Harvnb. Williams. 1998
12. (Fall 2011). "Evolution of dental wear and diet during the origin of whales". [[Paleobiology (journal).

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