Project 3380: O. Lambert, G. Bianucci, R. Salas-Gismondi, C. Di Celma, E. Steurbaut, M. Urbina, C. de Muizon. 2019. An Amphibious Whale from the Middle Eocene of Peru Reveals Early South Pacific Dispersal of Quadrupedal Cetaceans. Current Biology. 29:1-8.
Abstract
Cetaceans originated in south Asia more than 50 million years ago (Ma), from a small quadrupedal artiodactyl ancestor [1-3]. Amphibious whales gradually dispersed westward along North Africa and arrived in North America before 41.2 Ma [4]. However, fossil evidence on when, through which pathway, and under which locomotion abilities these early whales reached the New World is fragmentary and contentious [5-7]. Peregocetus pacificus gen. et sp. nov. is a new protocetid cetacean discovered in middle Eocene (42.6 Ma) marine deposits of coastal Peru, which constitutes the first indisputable quadrupedal whale record from the Pacific Ocean and the Southern Hemisphere. Preserving the mandibles and most of the postcranial skeleton, this unique four-limbed whale bore caudal vertebrae with bifurcated and anteroposteriorly expanded transverse processes, like those of beavers and otters, suggesting a significant contribution of the tail during swimming. The fore- and hind limb proportions roughly similar to geologically older quadrupedal whales from India and Pakistan, the pelvis being firmly attached to the sacrum, an insertion fossa for the round ligament on the femur, and the retention of small hooves with a flat anteroventral tip at fingers and toes indicate that Peregocetus was still capable of standing and even walking on land. This new record from the southeastern Pacific demonstrates that early quadrupedal whales crossed the South Atlantic and nearly attained a circum-equatorial distribution with a combination of terrestrial and aquatic locomotion abilities less than 10 million years after their origin and probably before a northward dispersal towards higher North American latitudes.Read the article »
Article DOI: 10.1016/j.cub.2019.02.050
Project DOI: 10.7934/P3380, http://dx.doi.org/10.7934/P3380
This project contains | Matrices |
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Download Project SDD File ![]() | Total scored cells: 2237 Total media associated with cells: 0 Total labels associated with cell media: 0 |
Characters | |
Total characters: 121 Total characters with associated media: 0 Total characters with media with labels: 0 Total character states: 330 Total character states with associated media: 0 Total character states with media with labels:0 Total unordered/ordered characters:79/42 |
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MorphoBank Project 3380
MorphoBank Project 3380
- Creation Date:
05 February 2019 - Publication Date:
10 April 2019 - Project views: 13797
- Media downloads: 1
- Matrix downloads: 21
Authors' Institutions
- Muséum national d'Histoire naturelle, Paris (Natural History Museum, Paris)
- Museum of Natural History, Lima (Museo de Historia Natural), National University of San Marcos, Lima
- Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)
- Katholieke Universiteit Leuven
- Universidad Peruana Cayetano Heredia
- Royal Belgian Institute of Natural Sciences
- Sorbonne Université
- University of Pisa
- Università di Camerino
Members
member name | taxa ![]() |
specimens ![]() |
media ![]() | chars ![]() | character
| cell scorings (scored, NPA, "-") | cell
| rules ![]() | ||||||
Olivier Lambert Project Administrator | 34 | 1 | 1 | 121 | 0 | 0 | 2237 (2221, 0, 16) | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||||
MorphoBank Curator Full membership ![]() | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 (0, 0, 0) | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Taxonomic Overview for Matrix 'M25855' (33 Taxa)
taxon | unscored cells |
scored cells ![]() |
no cell support ![]() |
NPA cells |
"-" cells | cell images | labels on cell images |
member access |
[1] Sus scrofa Last Modified in 02/05/19 | 10 | 111 | 106 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 2 ![]() |
[2] Hippopotamus Last Modified in 02/05/19 | 21 | 106 | 98 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 ![]() |
[3] † Pakicetidae Last Modified in 04/10/19 | 17 | 106 | 104 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 ![]() |
[4] † Ambulocetus Last Modified in 04/10/19 | 69 | 55 | 52 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 ![]() |
[5] † Remingtonocetus Last Modified in 04/10/19 | 34 | 93 | 87 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 ![]() |
[6] † Dalanistes Last Modified in 04/10/19 | 49 | 73 | 71 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 ![]() |
[7] † Andrewsiphius Last Modified in 04/10/19 | 49 | 74 | 71 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 ![]() |
[8] † Kutchicetus Last Modified in 04/10/19 | 57 | 67 | 64 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 ![]() |
[9] † Maiacetus Last Modified in 04/10/19 | 67 | 55 | 54 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 ![]() |
[10] † Artiocetus Last Modified in 04/10/19 | 45 | 78 | 75 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 ![]() |
[11] † Gaviacetus Last Modified in 04/10/19 | 53 | 75 | 68 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 ![]() |
[12] † Rodhocetus Last Modified in 04/10/19 | 35 | 89 | 86 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 ![]() |
[13] † Carolinacetus Last Modified in 04/10/19 | 47 | 78 | 74 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 ![]() |
[14] † Aegyptocetus Last Modified in 04/10/19 | 77 | 44 | 44 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 ![]() |
[15] † Protocetus Last Modified in 04/10/19 | 40 | 85 | 81 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 ![]() |
[16] † Natchitochia Last Modified in 04/10/19 | 105 | 16 | 16 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 ![]() |
[17] † ChM pv6950 Last Modified in 04/10/19 | 92 | 36 | 29 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 ![]() |
[18] † Georgiacetus Last Modified in 04/10/19 | 14 | 107 | 107 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 ![]() |
[19] † Eocetus Last Modified in 04/10/19 | 94 | 30 | 26 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 ![]() |
[20] † Basilotritus Last Modified in 04/10/19 | 98 | 22 | 22 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 ![]() |
[21] † Babiacetus Last Modified in 04/10/19 | 61 | 67 | 60 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 ![]() |
[22] † Basilosaurus Last Modified in 04/10/19 | 6 | 114 | 114 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 ![]() |
[23] † Dorudon Last Modified in 04/10/19 | 9 | 112 | 111 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 ![]() |
[24] † Qaisracetus Last Modified in 04/10/19 | 39 | 83 | 80 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 ![]() |
[25] † MUSM 1443 Last Modified in 04/10/19 | 108 | 13 | 13 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 ![]() |
[26] † Supayacetus Last Modified in 04/10/19 | 106 | 15 | 15 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 ![]() |
[27] † Ocucajea Last Modified in 04/10/19 | 106 | 17 | 12 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 ![]() |
[28] † Saghacetus Last Modified in 04/10/19 | 39 | 82 | 82 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 ![]() |
[29] † Zygorhiza Last Modified in 04/10/19 | 22 | 99 | 99 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 ![]() |
[30] † Ancalecetus Last Modified in 04/10/19 | 50 | 71 | 71 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 ![]() |
[31] † Cynthiacetus Last Modified in 04/10/19 | 45 | 75 | 75 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 ![]() |
[32] † Chrysocetus Last Modified in 04/10/19 | 82 | 39 | 39 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 ![]() |
[33] † MUSM 3580 Last Modified in 04/10/19 | 87 | 34 | 34 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 ![]() |
Project views 
type | number of views | Individual items viewed (where applicable) |
Total project views | 13797 | |
Project overview | 1442 | |
Matrix views | 874 | Matrix landing page (739 views); Character-taxon matrix (135 views); |
Taxon list | 6653 | |
Media views | 2357 | Media search (2022 views); M657092 (335 views); |
Views for media list | 710 | |
Specimen list | 1263 | |
Bibliography | 495 | |
Documents list | 3 |
Project downloads 
type | number of downloads | Individual items downloaded (where applicable) |
Total downloads from project | 171 | |
Matrix downloads | 21 | Character-taxon matrix (21 downloads); |
Media downloads | 1 | M657092 (1 download); |
Project downloads | 149 |