Xhosacetus is a

genus Genus (; : genera ) is a taxonomic rank above species and below family (taxonomy), family as used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In bino ...

ziphiid Beaked whales (systematic name Ziphiidae) are a family of cetaceans noted as being one of the least-known groups of mammals because of their deep-sea habitat, reclusive behavior and apparent low abundance. Only three or four of the 24 existing s ...

cetacea Cetacea (; , ) is an infraorder of aquatic mammals belonging to the order Artiodactyla that includes whales, dolphins and porpoises. Key characteristics are their fully aquatic lifestyle, streamlined body shape, often large size and exclusively c ...

ns with a single species, ''Xhosacetus hendeysi''. It was classified from fossils found off the coast of the

Kerguelen islands The Kerguelen Islands ( or ; in French commonly ' but officially ', ), also known as the Desolation Islands (' in French), are a group of islands in the subantarctic, sub-Antarctic region. They are among the Extremes on Earth#Remoteness, most i ...

in 1,145 meter deep water.LAMBERT O., MUIZON C. de, DUHAMEL G. & VAN DER PLICHT J. 2018. — Neogene and Quaternary fossil remains of beaked whales (Cetacea, Odontoceti, Ziphiidae) from deep-sea deposits off Crozet and Kerguelen islands, Southern Ocean. Geodiversitas 40 (6): 135-160. https://doi.org/10.5252/geodiversitas2018v40a6

References

Miocene cetaceans Ziphiids Fossil taxa described in 2007 {{paleo-whale-stub