New Janjucetus specimen continues myth of ‘toothed mysticete’
Duncan et al 2025 described
an immature Janjucetus (holotype shown in Fig 1) from skull parts and teeth. Janjucetus is a short-snouted, phylogenetically miniaturized, neotonous descendant of larger, long-snouted Coronodon and Aetiocetus (Fig 1) in the large reptile tree (LRT, 2340 taxa). Janucetus is from the Jan Ju Formation in Australia.
Figure 1. Phylogenetic miniaturization at the transition from Archaeoceti to Odontoceti featuring a detour to Mammalodon and Janjucetus.
” data-medium-file=”https://pterosaurheresies.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/aetiocetus-janjucetus-mammalodon588-1.jpg?w=167″ data-large-file=”https://pterosaurheresies.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/aetiocetus-janjucetus-mammalodon588-1.jpg?w=569″ class=”size-full wp-image-90269″ src=”https://pterosaurheresies.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/aetiocetus-janjucetus-mammalodon588-1.jpg” alt=”Figure 1. Phylogenetic miniaturization at the transition from Archaeoceti to Odontoceti featuring a detour to Mammalodon and Janjucetus.” width=”584″ height=”1051″ srcset=”https://pterosaurheresies.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/aetiocetus-janjucetus-mammalodon588-1.jpg?w=584&h=1051 584w, https://pterosaurheresies.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/aetiocetus-janjucetus-mammalodon588-1.jpg?w=83&h=150 83w, https://pterosaurheresies.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/aetiocetus-janjucetus-mammalodon588-1.jpg?w=167&h=300 167w, https://pterosaurheresies.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/aetiocetus-janjucetus-mammalodon588-1.jpg 588w” sizes=”(max-width: 584px) 100vw, 584px” />
Figure 1. Phylogenetic miniaturization at the transition from Archaeoceti to Odontoceti featuring a detour to Mammalodon and Janjucetus.
The problem here arises from taxon exclusion.
The authors called Janjucetus a ‘toothed mysticete’ not realizing that odontocetes = toothed whales are not related to mysticetes = baleen whales. The traditional clade ‘Cetacea’ was invalidated by the LRT in 2016 simply by adding taxa. Tenrecs gave rise to odontocetes. Hippos and desmostylians gave rise to mysticetes.
The cladogram created by the authors
(their figure 18) has Llanocetus (Fig 2) as a basal member of Mysticeti and Zygorhiza as the outgroup taxon. This is based on excluding taxa pertinent to this study.
The authors wrote, “Contrary to several recent analyses of toothed mysticetes, which place Coronodon or the Coronodonidae as the basalmost Mysticete family (Geisler et al. 2017, Hernández-Cisneros 2022, Boessenecker et al. 2023), our analysis recovers the Llanocetidae as the most basal clade of Mysticeti.”
Figure 1. Llanocetus, hailed as a baleen whale with teeth and gums, is just a large archaeocete.
” data-medium-file=”https://pterosaurheresies.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/llanocetus-skull588.jpg?w=300″ data-large-file=”https://pterosaurheresies.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/llanocetus-skull588.jpg?w=584″ class=”size-full wp-image-34025″ src=”https://pterosaurheresies.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/llanocetus-skull588.jpg” alt=”Figure 1. Llanocetus, hailed as a baleen whale with teeth and gums, is just a large archaeocete.” width=”584″ height=”247″ srcset=”https://pterosaurheresies.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/llanocetus-skull588.jpg?w=584&h=247 584w, https://pterosaurheresies.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/llanocetus-skull588.jpg?w=150&h=64 150w, https://pterosaurheresies.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/llanocetus-skull588.jpg?w=300&h=127 300w, https://pterosaurheresies.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/llanocetus-skull588.jpg 588w” sizes=”(max-width: 584px) 100vw, 584px” />
Figure 2. Llanocetus, hailed as a baleen whale with teeth and gums, is just a large archaeocete.
In the LRT Llanocetus
is a member of the Archaeocetid grade, transitional from pakicetids to odontocetes.
Almost toothless Miocaperea (Figs 3, 4) is the basal-most mysticete in the LRT. Miocapera was ignored in the Duncan et al text. Desmostylians are likewise omitted from the authors’ text.
Taxon exclusion is the number one problem in paleontology. And so easy to repair.
Figure 1. Miocaperea is a Miocene mysticete with vestigial molars. Its a giant desmostylian. Compare to Desmostylus to scale at lower right.
” data-medium-file=”https://pterosaurheresies.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/miocaperea-skull588-1.jpg?w=126″ data-large-file=”https://pterosaurheresies.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/miocaperea-skull588-1.jpg?w=432″ class=”size-full wp-image-85863″ src=”https://pterosaurheresies.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/miocaperea-skull588-1.jpg” alt=”Figure 1. Miocaperea is a Miocene mysticete with vestigial molars. Its a giant desmostylian. Compare to Desmostylus to scale at lower right.” width=”584″ height=”1386″ srcset=”https://pterosaurheresies.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/miocaperea-skull588-1.jpg?w=584&h=1386 584w, https://pterosaurheresies.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/miocaperea-skull588-1.jpg?w=63&h=150 63w, https://pterosaurheresies.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/miocaperea-skull588-1.jpg?w=126&h=300 126w, https://pterosaurheresies.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/miocaperea-skull588-1.jpg 588w” sizes=”(max-width: 584px) 100vw, 584px” />
Figure 3 Miocaperea is a Miocene mysticete with vestigial molars. Its a giant desmostylian. Compare to Desmostylus to scale at lower right.
Are Duncan et al to blame for omitting pertinent taxa?
If they are choosing to ignore competing cladograms, then yes, they are to blame for their ignorance. If they choose to call themselves scientists, they are to blame for a lack of curiosity.
The choices of these whale experts were approved by peers, editors and referees.
Paleontologists have erected an ivory tower to isolate themselves from other hypotheses – AND to promote untenable pet hypotheses.
Figure 1. Rorqual evolution from desmostylians, Neoparadoxia, the RBCM specimen of Behemotops, Miocaperea, Eschrichtius and Cetotherium, not to scale.
” data-medium-file=”https://pterosaurheresies.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/rorqual_evolution588.jpg?w=176″ data-large-file=”https://pterosaurheresies.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/rorqual_evolution588.jpg?w=584″ class=”size-full wp-image-29583″ src=”https://pterosaurheresies.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/rorqual_evolution588.jpg” alt=”Figure 1. Rorqual evolution from desmostylians, Neoparadoxia, the RBCM specimen of Behemotops, Miocaperea, Eschrichtius and Cetotherium, not to scale.” width=”584″ height=”997″ srcset=”https://pterosaurheresies.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/rorqual_evolution588.jpg?w=584&h=997 584w, https://pterosaurheresies.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/rorqual_evolution588.jpg?w=88&h=150 88w, https://pterosaurheresies.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/rorqual_evolution588.jpg?w=176&h=300 176w, https://pterosaurheresies.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/rorqual_evolution588.jpg 588w” sizes=”(max-width: 584px) 100vw, 584px” />
Figure 4. Rorqual evolution from desmostylians, Neoparadoxia, the RBCM specimen of Behemotops, Miocaperea, Eschrichtius and Cetotherium, not to scale.
If you are a paleontologist
who is terrified to add taxa, you have my sympathies. I also thank you for leaving so much ‘low-hanging fruit’ for independent researchers to discover. You have stayed frozen in the classroom during recess while the rest of us are outside the system, making big discoveries overlooked by the teachers and their out-dated textbooks.
Be the first paleontologist to break away. You don’t have to repeat myths.
Or maybe you do.
References
Duncan RJ et al (5 co-authors) 2025. An immature toothed mysticete from the Oligocene of Australia and insights into mammalodontid (Cetacea: Mysticeti) morphology, systematics, and ontogeny. Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society, 2025, 204(4), zlaf090 https://doi.org/10.1093/zoolinnean/zlaf090
Publicity
cbsnews.com/news/new-species-ancient-whale-deceptively-cute/
Source: https://pterosaurheresies.wordpress.com/2025/08/14/new-janjucetus-specimen-continues-myth-of-toothed-mysticete/
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