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First remingtonocetid archaeocete (Mammalia, Cetacea) from the middle Eocene of Egypt with implications for biogeography and locomotion in early cetacean evolution

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  21 March 2016

Ryan M. Bebej ,
Iyad S. Zalmout ,
Ahmed A. Abed El-Aziz ,
Mohammed Sameh M. Antar  and
Philip D. Gingerich
Ryan M. Bebej
Affiliation:
Department of Biology, Calvin College, 1726 Knollcrest Circle SE, Grand Rapids, Michigan 49546-4403, USA 〈[email protected]〉
Iyad S. Zalmout
Affiliation:
Mammals Research Chair, Department of Zoology, College of Science, King Saud University, PO Box 2455, Riyadh 11451, Saudi Arabia 〈[email protected]〉
Ahmed A. Abed El-Aziz
Affiliation:
Egyptian Environmental Affairs Agency, Wadi Al-Hitan World Heritage Site, Fayum, Egypt 〈[email protected]〉, 〈[email protected]〉
Mohammed Sameh M. Antar
Affiliation:
Egyptian Environmental Affairs Agency, Wadi Al-Hitan World Heritage Site, Fayum, Egypt 〈[email protected]〉, 〈[email protected]〉
Philip D. Gingerich
Affiliation:
Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences, Museum of Paleontology, University of Michigan, 1109 Geddes Ave, Ann Arbor, Michigan 48109-1079, USA 〈[email protected]〉
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Abstract

Remingtonocetidae are Eocene archaeocetes that represent a unique experiment in cetacean evolution. They possess long narrow skulls, long necks, fused sacra, and robust hind limbs. Previously described remingtonocetids are known from middle Eocene Lutetian strata in Pakistan and India. Here we describe a new remingtonocetid, Rayanistes afer, n. gen. n. sp., recovered from a middle to late Lutetian interval of the Midawara Formation in Egypt. The holotype preserves a sacrum with four vertebral centra; several lumbar and caudal vertebrae; an innominate with a complete ilium, ischium, and acetabulum; and a nearly complete femur. The ilium and ischium of Rayanistes are bladelike, rising sharply from the body of the innominate anterior and posterior to the acetabulum, and the acetabular notch is narrow. These features are diagnostic of Remingtonocetidae, but their development also shows that Rayanistes had a specialized mode of locomotion. The expanded ischium is larger than that of any other archaeocete, supporting musculature for powerful retraction of the hind limbs during swimming. Posteriorly angled neural spines on lumbar vertebrae and other features indicate increased passive flexibility of the lumbus. Rayanistes probably used its enhanced lumbar flexibility to increase the length of the power stroke during pelvic paddling. Recovery of a remingtonocetid in Egypt broadens the distribution of Remingtonocetidae and shows that protocetids were not the only semiaquatic archaeocetes capable of dispersal across the southern Tethys Sea.

Type
Articles
Information
Journal of Paleontology , Volume 89 , Issue 5 , September 2015 , pp. 882 - 893
Copyright
Copyright © 2016, The Paleontological Society 

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