Pakicetus
Pakicetus is an extinct genus of amphibious cetacean of the family Pakicetidae, which was endemic to Pakistan during the Ypresian (early Eocene) period, about 50 million years ago. It was a wolf-like animal, about 1 metre (3 ft 3 in) to 2 metres (6 ft 7 in) long, and lived in and around water where it ate fish and other small animals. The vast majority of paleontologists regard it as the most basal whale, representing a transitional stage between land mammals and whales. It belongs to the even-toed ungulates with the closest living non-cetacean relative being the hippopotamus.
| Pakicetus | |
|---|---|
| Cast of P. attocki, Canadian Museum of Nature | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Mammalia |
| Order: | Artiodactyla |
| Infraorder: | Cetacea |
| Family: | †Pakicetidae |
| Genus: | †Pakicetus Gingerich & Russell 1981 |
| Type species | |
| †Pakicetus inachus | |
| Species | |
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