Mysticeti
/ˌmɪstɪˈsiːti
/plural noun Zoology
A division of the whales that comprises the baleen whales.
- Suborder Mysticeti, order Cetacea.
- The extant sub-orders are the Mysticeti (baleen whales) and the Odontoceti (toothed whales).
- Estimates for Tragulidae, Odontoceti, and Mysticeti are generally younger and close together in time, followed by a still more recent divergence of cervids, bovids, antilocaprids and giraffids.
Derivatives
mysticete
- Both the mysticetes and odontocetes are thought to be descendants of the archaeocetes.
- This anatomic geometry supports the idea of acoustic frequency filtering and channeling functions in odontocetes and low frequency hearing in mysticetes.
- Interestingly, the late Oligocene whale Aetiocetus, from Oregon, has skull and jaw features typical of baleen whales, and is considered to be the earliest mysticete - yet it also bore a full set of teeth.
Origin
Modern Latin (plural), from Greek mustikētos representing (in old editions of Aristotle) the phrase ho mus to kētos 'the mouse, the whale so called'.