OBJECT DOSSIER · SMITHSONIAN OPEN ACCESS

Baleen whale — Diorocetus hiatus

SAGE Museum Deep Time scientific dossier

Artist / Creator

roanokecollege

Date / Period

Middle Miocene · Middle Miocene.

Object Type

skull

Medium

unknown_needs_review

About This Object

Geologic period: Middle Miocene

Age: Middle Miocene.

Evidence: Cranial anatomy is direct evidence of its mysticete relationships. Soft feeding anatomy such as baleen itself is reconstructed unless directly preserved.

Why it matters: Diorocetus records the early diversification of baleen whales in the Atlantic coastal marine ecosystems of North America.

Plain Language Identity: An extinct Middle Miocene mysticete, or baleen-whale relative.

What You Are Looking At: A fossil Diorocetus skull from the Calvert Formation.

Ecosystem: Middle Miocene Atlantic coastal marine ecosystem.

Source Urls: https://naturalhistory.si.edu/visit/virtual-tour/current-exhibits/deep-time-virtual-tour-fossil-list; https://www.si.edu/object/nmnhpaleobiology_3430765

Formation: Calvert Formation, Chesapeake Group

Find Location: Calvert County, Maryland, United States

Enrichment Method: SAGE curated research pass; title + scientific name + source scene matched; chronology and taxonomy conflicts retained rather than silently corrected; evidence separated from inference

Scientific name: Diorocetus hiatus

Evidence / representation: comparative_taxon_visual

Why It Is In This SAGE Exhibit

comparative_taxon_visual

After the Dinosaurs: Mammals, Ice Ages and the World We Inherited.

Provenance

Smithsonian Deep Time source scene: Costs and Benefits of Living Large

Visual source institution: Wikimedia Commons

Exhibition History

Included in the SAGE Museum Dinosaurs & Deep Time staging exhibit.

Collection & Credit

Media license: CC BY 2.0

https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0

Subjects & Themes

Diorocetus hiatus Middle Miocene skull Costs and Benefits of Living Large After the Dinosaurs

ORIGINAL COLLECTION SOURCE

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