Herpetocetus

Herpetocetus was a genus of cetotheriid whales. It was smaller than modern baleen whales, measured just 3 to 4 meters, and due to its jaw structure, it couldn’t open its mouth as wide as them, which meant it was incapable of doing lunge feeding.

 Description 
Herpetocetus morrowi had an elongated snout and a roughly quadrate skull, and also probably did a feeding strategy very similar to that of the gray whale (Eschrichtius robustus). Also, Herpetocetus had a unique shape, making it resemble a dolphin rather than a whale as seen by its elongated and a bit slender body.

One young specimen discovered in Hokkaido, Japan includes a partial skull, mandible, vertebrae, and a scapula, and this specimen also exhibits a postglenoid process of the squamosal more transversely compressed than in the genus Nannocetus.

 Species 
Herpetocetus has four recognized species:

 †Herpetocetus bramblei Whitmore and Barnes, 2008
 †Herpetocetus morrowi El Adli, Deméré, and Boessenecker, 2014
 †Herpetocetus scaldiensis van Beneden, 1872 (type)
 †Herpetocetus transatlanticus Whitmore and Barnes, 2008

 Related pages 

 Cetotherium
 Brandtocetus

 References 
Category:Pliocene
Category:Baleen whales
Category:Cetaceans
Category:Whales