| Rhaphicetus Temporal range: Early Miocene
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|---|---|
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| Reconstruction of the skull | |
Scientific classification 
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| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Mammalia |
| Infraclass: | Placentalia |
| Order: | Artiodactyla |
| Infraorder: | Cetacea |
| Superfamily: | Physeteroidea |
| Family: | †Incertae sedis |
| Genus: | †Rhaphicetus Lambert et al., 2020 |
| Species: | †R. valenciae
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| Binomial name | |
| †Rhaphicetus valenciae Lambert et al., 2020
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Rhaphicetus is an extinct genus of physeteroid whale that lived in Peru in the lower Miocene epoch around 19-18 million years ago. This genus contains one species, Raphicetus valenciae, representing one of the earliest branching stem physteroid.1
Description
This genus is medium sized with an estimated length of 4.7–5.7 metres (15–19 ft). It has a narrow and cylindrical rostrum that comprises nearly 75% of the condylobasal length. The upper jaw has at least 36 teeth per quadrant.1
References
References
- Olivier Lambert; Christian de Muizon; Mario Urbina; Giovanni Bianucci (2020). "A new longirostrine sperm whale (Cetacea, Physeteroidea) from the lower Miocene of the Pisco Basin (southern coast of Peru)". Journal of Systematic Palaeontology. 18 (20): 1707–1742. Bibcode:2020JSPal..18.1707L. doi:10.1080/14772019.2020.1805520. S2CID 221838686.