Remingtonocetus
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Through Type (biology), India and Pakistan
History of discovery
Sahni & Mishra 1975 named Protocetus harudiensis based on a partial skeleton, the type specimen found in the Lutetian shallow subtidal mudstone in the Harudi Formation, India. Kumar & Sahni 1986 renamed it Remingtononocetus harudiensis due to morphological differences from Protocetus.
Remingtonocetus domandaensis was named by Gingerich et al. 2001 based on a partial skeleton found in a Lutetian coastal shale in the Domanda Formation of Pakistan. Remingtonocetus is larger, has a broader rostrum, and longer premolars than Andrewsiphius. It is smaller than, has more gracile premolars and molars than Dalanistes. R. harudiensis differs from R. domandaensis in molar morphology.
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Description
Remingtonocetus was a small cetacean with R. harudiensis weighing 198–576 kg (437–1,270 lb). Gingerich et al. 2001 interpreted R. domandaensis as an older and more generalized species than R. harudiensis. Based on a morphological analysis, they concluded that the hindlimbs of Remingtonocetus were probably not weight-bearing, and that (1) the fused sacrum indicates a limitation in tail-powered locomotion, and (2) the presence of powerful hip extensors and femoral adductors indicates that Remingtonocetus was an efficient and specialized foot-powered swimmer.
Remingtonocetus had four working and usable limbs, a slender whale-like body with long tail and slender, hydrodynamic head.
Taxonomy
Remingtonocetus was named by Kumar & Sahni 1986. Its type is Protocetus harudiensis. It was considered monophyletic by Uhen et al. 2011. It was assigned to Cetacea by Sepkoski 2002. To Remingtonocetidae by Kumar & Sahni 1986, Gingerich & Russell 1990, Benton 1993, McKenna & Bell 1997, Bajpai & Thewissen 1998, Williams 1998, Thewissen et al. 2001, Gingerich et al. 2001, Geisler & Sanders 2003, McLeod & Barnes 2008 and Uhen et al. 2011.