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Here's a new paleo-reconstuction I drew since the past two days of Albicetus oxymycterus, which is a mid-Miocene raptorial physeteroid none of you have probably heard about. Special thing between this little Moby-Dick and city I live in is that although it was not discovered directly in PV, it was discovered very nearby in Santa Barbara in the same formation and sublayer that exists here which highly suggests that it also swam here 16-14 million years ago. 

 

I tried to make this as scientifically accurate as possible using the resources I had, which included the entire 2015 paper establishing the genus Albicetus. I mainly used a pre-existing sketch of Aulophyseter morricei as body reference (which the paper stated is morphologically most similar to A. oxymycterus except for dentition) and used the paper's skull reconstruction for the head. I used a Zygophyseter-like head as the paper stated that the supracranial basin of the skull does not elongate to the end of the maxilla like that of Zygophyseter and Acrophyseter, which both posses snouts as a result. 

For the body size, I calculated the skull-body ratio by dividing the mean and lower condylobasal length estimates to the total calculated length, which came with either a 1:4.6 or 1:4.9 ratio. (Unrelated to the drawing, the 1:4-5 ratio is based on using a body formula for Physeter and Kogia spp.. If you use the upper Livyatan melvillei /Zygophyseter varolai estimates as reference, a ratio of 1:5.9 and total length of 8.6 meters is calculated) I don't know any of the advanced formulas some of you guys probably do know about and simply used division, so my calculations might not be the most accurate ones.

 

I also put in a diver for scale this time! ;)

 

5b0c57464d735_Albicetusoxymycterusscalebw.thumb.png.009a3ced28dc2f3ce179237e22055b17.png

 

EXTRAS

 

 


Here's the drawing with the skull reconstruction in place

5b0c5735ca01b_Albicetusoxymycteruswskull.thumb.png.3f2432d2e44cb620f2ab16f34c76cb21.png

 

 

And here's an alternative drawing without the snout in case I'm wrong with the assumption that an un-elongated supracranial basin means snout.

5b0c5748d10ae_Albicetusoxymycterusaltbw.thumb.png.3b526809866541c96f5520e71c4aac3b.png
 

 

 

 

 

If you're a fossil nut from Palos Verdes, San Pedro, Redondo Beach, or Torrance, feel free to shoot me a PM!

 

 

Mosasaurus_hoffmannii_skull_schematic.png

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Hi Macrophyseter,

 

great Drawing! And great use of the resources on the species.

Somehow the version without a snout looks much more elegant, but well, not every animal has to fit human standards of beauty. The diversity of cetaceans is amazing again and again.

 

The assumption that they also roamed around your place is valid I think. Must be great living in such a fossil hotspot.

There are  locations for Archeoceti in my country, but they are strictly protected, which is a good thing. But walking a beach with a chance to find marine mammal fossils must be great

( I´d settle for recent bones, and a weathered common dolphin skull was the highlight of this years vacation)

 

Aloha

J

 

Try to learn something about everything and everything about something

Thomas Henry Huxley

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You're quite correct, i'd not heard of this cetacean. 

Very interesting and nice drawings. :)

Thanks for sharing. 

Life's Good!

Tortoise Friend.

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I like your drawings and the thought that you put in to them.:)

Dipleurawhisperer5.jpg

I like Trilo-butts and I cannot lie.

 

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