Simocetus

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Simocetus is an extinct toothed whale that lived about 32 million years ago in the Oligocene epoch, making it the oldest named toothed whale (though older unnamed toothed whales exist). It is known from a single skull found in 1977 in the Alsea Formation along Oregon’s Yaquina River by fossil hunter Douglas Emlong. The genus and its only species, S. rayi, were described by Ewan Fordyce in 2002. The teeth and jaw are unlike those of other whales, and researchers think Simocetus may have fed by suction on bottom-dwelling marine invertebrates. The shape of its basicranium and face suggests it could have had echolocation abilities similar to modern whales. Simocetus belongs to the family Simocetidae within the toothed whales (Cetacea). The name combines 'simos' (pug-nosed) and 'cetus' (whale).