| schema:description 2 | "Aetiocetus polydentatus is a type of primitive baleen whale that lived about 25 million years ago and was recorded as a new species in 1995. It is called a toothed baleen whale because it had teeth despite being a baleen whale. Fossils from the genus Aetiocetus (family Aetiocetidae) have been found in the east and west of the North Pacific, which has led to the thought that the species was widely distributed in the ocean in those days. It was small for a whale, with a body length of about four meters. The museum has preserved its skull, forelimbs, and other anterior regions of the body. The specific name polydentatus (meaning “many teeth”) comes from the species having more teeth than any ancient whale (Archaeoceti). Because Ashoro has records of four new species of toothed baleen whale, along with the perceived existence of several unrecorded species of toothed whales (Odontoceti), primitive toothed whales and baleen whales are crucial parts of the Ashoro fossil fauna that will unlock secrets in the evolution of extant whale species....(more)" |
