''Ciuciulea'' is a genus of cetotheriid

mysticete Baleen whales (), also known as whalebone whales, are marine mammals of the parvorder Mysticeti in the infraorder Cetacea (whales, dolphins and porpoises), which use baleen plates (or "whalebone") in their mouths to sieve plankton from the water ...

found in middle Miocene marine deposits in

Moldova Moldova, officially the Republic of Moldova, is a Landlocked country, landlocked country in Eastern Europe, with an area of and population of 2.42 million. Moldova is bordered by Romania to the west and Ukraine to the north, east, and south. ...

Description

''Ciuciulea'' is a dwarf cetotheriid 3–4 meters in length. It comes from the Badenian deposits (13.8-12.7 Ma) of the Central Paratethys, and this is the earliest world record of the family Cetotheriidae. It differs from the other Cetotheriidae in the presence of a narrow occipital shield, which is as long as wide, and a pars cochlearis of the periotic bone bulging out ventral to fenestra rotunda. Primitive characters include the premaxillae forming a transverse line with the posterior ends of nasals and maxillae rather than constricted or overridden by ascending processes of maxillae.Gol'din P. (2018) New Paratethyan dwarf baleen whales mark the origin of cetotheres. PeerJ 6:e5800 https://doi.org/10.7717/peerj.5800

Biology

''Ciuciulea'' lived in shallow marine waters in present-day Moldova, earlier than true seals '' Pontophoca'', '' Sarmatonectes'', '' Histriophoca'', '' Monachopsis'', '' Cryptophoca'', and '' Praepusa'', the putative kentriodontid '' Sarmatodelphis'', and the problematic odontocetes '' Pachypleurus'', ''Phocaena euxinica'', and ''Delphinus bessarabicus''.

References

Cetotheriidae Monotypic prehistoric cetacean genera Miocene cetaceans Miocene mammals of Europe Fossil taxa described in 2018 {{paleo-whale-stub