''Mauicetus'' is a genus of extinct

baleen whale Baleen whales ( systematic name Mysticeti), also known as whalebone whales, are a parvorder of carnivorous marine mammals of the infraorder Cetacea ( whales, dolphins and porpoises) which use keratinaceous baleen plates (or "whalebone") in th ...

from the Late

Oligocene The Oligocene ( ) is a geologic epoch of the Paleogene Period and extends from about 33.9 million to 23 million years before the present ( to ). As with other older geologic periods, the rock beds that define the epoch are well identified but ...

of New Zealand.

Taxonomy

''Mauicetus'' was originally named ''Lophocephalus'' by William Benham, but that name was already used for a beetle, and Benham provided the replacement name ''Mauicetus.'' Three more species were named in 1956: ''M. brevicollis'', ''M. lophocephalus'', and ''M. waitakiensis''. Nowadays, ''Mauicetus parki'' is considered a stem-balaenopteroid, while ''M. lophocephalus'' and ''M. waitakiensis'' have been reclassified in

Eomysticetidae Eomysticetidae is a family of extinct mysticetes belonging to Chaeomysticeti (toothless mysticetes). It is one of two families in the basal chaeomysticete clade Eomysticetoidea (the other being Cetotheriopsidae). Description Eomysticetids a ...

, with ''M. lophocephalus'' and ''M. waitakiensis'' being assigned to ''

Tokarahia ''Tokarahia'' is a genus of eomysticetid baleen whale from the Late Oligocene (Chattian) of New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North ...

'' and ''

Tohoraata ''Tohoraata'' is a genus of eomysticetid baleen whale from the Late Oligocene (Chattian) of New Zealand. There are two recognized species, ''T. raekohao'' and ''T. waitakiensis''.Robert W. Boessenecker and R. Ewan Fordyce (2014). "A new Eomystic ...

''.Robert W. Boessenecker and R. Ewan Fordyce (2015). "A new genus and species of eomysticetid (Cetacea: Mysticeti) and a reinterpretation of ‘Mauicetus’ lophocephalus Marples, 1956: Transitional baleen whales from the upper Oligocene of New Zealand". Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society. in press. doi:10.1111/zoj.12297.

References

Oligocene cetaceans Extinct animals of New Zealand Prehistoric cetacean genera {{paleo-whale-stub