Miocaperea Temporal range: Late Miocene
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Scientific classification | |
Domain: | Eukaryota |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Chordata |
Class: | Mammalia |
Order: | Artiodactyla |
Infraorder: | Cetacea |
Family: | Cetotheriidae |
Subfamily: | Neobalaeninae |
Genus: | †Miocaperea Bisconti, 2012 |
Species | |
†M. pulchra Bisconti, 2012 (type) |
Miocaperea is an extinct genus of pygmy right whale from the Late Miocene Pisco Formation of Peru.[1] Its type species is Miocaperea pulchra.[2]
The discovery of Miocaperea is significant, because neobalaenines were previously unknown in the fossil record, except for an isolated petrosal (ear bone) from late Miocene-aged deposits in Australia.[3] A previous study placed the divergence date of Neobalaeninae from other mysticetes at about 23 million years,[4] and the age of Miocaperea lends credence to the notion of an origin for Neobalaeninae deep in the early Miocene.