Extinct genus of mammals
Idiocetus ("unique whale") is a genus of extinct cetaceans of the family Balaenidae .[ 2]
Discovery
Fossils belonging to this genus were first found in Piacenzian (Upper Pliocene ) strata near Montopoli in Val d'Arno , a town in Tuscany (central Italy ). The Italian paleontologist Giovanni Capellini described the whale in 1876 and attributed it to a new genus and species, establishing the type species Idiocetus guicciardinii . Some decades later, in 1926, other fossil remains possibly belonging to the genus were discovered from the Tortonian (Upper Miocene ) of Japan .[ 3]
References
Further reading
Capellini, G., 1905. "Balene fossili toscane. III. Idiocetus guicciardinii ". Memorie della Regia accademia delle Scienze dell’Istituto di Bologna 6 : 71–80.