Maiacetus Pronunciation
Picture, name meaning, and how to say Maiacetus. Free guide for kids and parents.
How to Pronounce Maiacetus
my-ah-SEE-tus
ALL CAPS = stressed syllable
What does Maiacetus mean?
good mother whale
Name Roots
"maia"
good mother, from Greek 'maia' meaning nursing mother or midwife
"cetus"
whale, from Greek 'ketos' meaning large sea creature or sea monster
Fun Facts
- ✓The most famous Maiacetus fossil, described in 2009 by researchers Philip Gingerich and Gregg Uhen, contained a fetal skeleton inside the mother, making it one of the only prehistoric whale fossils ever found with an unborn young still in place.
- ✓The fetus inside the mother fossil was positioned head-forward toward the birth canal, exactly like modern land mammals, which tells scientists that Maiacetus came ashore to give birth rather than delivering in the water like modern whales and dolphins.
- ✓Maiacetus lived approximately 47.5 million years ago during the Eocene epoch, a time when its ancestors had only recently left land and were still paddling back and forth between sea and shore.
- ✓A second Maiacetus fossil found nearby is about 12 percent larger than the pregnant female and has bigger canine teeth, leading scientists to conclude it was a male and that Maiacetus showed clear sexual dimorphism, meaning males and females looked noticeably different.
- ✓Both Maiacetus fossils were collected from the Habib Rahi Formation in the Balochistan province of Pakistan, a region that was once the shallow coastline of an ancient sea called the Tethys Ocean.
