Brandtocetus

{{Short description|Extinct genus of whales}}

{{Italic title}}

{{speciesbox

| fossil_range = {{Temporal range|Miocene}}

| image = Brandtocetus chongulek.jpeg

| image_caption = Brandtocetus chongulek, the holotype skull

| genus = Brandtocetus

| parent_authority = {{Harvnb|Gol’din|Startsev|2014}}

| species = chongulek

| authority = Gol'din & Startsev 2014

}}

Brandtocetus is a genus of cetotheriid mysticete in the subfamily Cetotheriinae. The type and only species is Brandtocetus chongulek from the late Miocene (Tortonian) of the Kerch Peninsula in Crimea.

Brandtocetus chongulek was a whale approximately 4–5 m long differing from all Cetotheriidae by having a transversely expanded lateral portion of the squamosal bone; a rhomboid temporal fossa; an occipital shield extending anterior to the center of the temporal fossa; and an elongated posterior process of the tympanoperiotic with a proximodistally extended, and distally expanded, distal portion exposed as an oval surface on the posterolateral skull wall.{{cite journal|last1=Gol’din|first1=Pavel|last2=Startsev|first2=Dmitry|title=Brandtocetus, a new genus of baleen whales (Cetacea, Cetotheriidae) from the late Miocene of Crimea, Ukraine|journal=Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology|year=2014|volume=34|issue=2|pages=419–433|doi=10.1080/02724634.2013.799482|bibcode=2014JVPal..34..419G |s2cid=84535132|url=https://figshare.com/articles/journal_contribution/963514 }}