Messapicetus

{{short description|Extinct genus of beaked whale}}

{{Automatic taxobox

| fossil_range = {{fossil range|Tortonian}}

| image = Messapicetus gregarius e M. longirostris.jpg

| image_caption = M. gregarius and M. longirostris cranial diagrams

| taxon = Messapicetus

| authority = Bianucci & Landini, 1992

}}

Messapicetus is an extinct genus of beaked whale from the Late Miocene. It currently holds two species, M. longirostris from the Tortonian of Italy{{Cite web|title=Messapicetus longirostris a new genus and species of Ziphiidae (Cetacea) from the Late Miocene of "Pietra leccese" (Apulia; Italy)|url=https://arpi.unipi.it/handle/11568/17876|access-date=2020-08-28|website=arpi.unipi.it}} and M. gregarius from the Pisco Formation of Peru.{{Cite journal|last1=Ramassamy|first1=Benjamin|last2=Lambert|first2=Olivier|last3=Collareta|first3=Alberto|last4=Urbina|first4=Mario|last5=Bianucci|first5=Giovanni|date=2018-01-16|title=Description of the skeleton of the fossil beaked whale <i>Messapicetus gregarius</i>: searching potential proxies for deep-diving abilities|url=https://fr.copernicus.org/articles/21/11/2018/|journal=Fossil Record|language=en|volume=21|issue=1|pages=11–32|doi=10.5194/fr-21-11-2018|issn=2193-0074|doi-access=free|hdl=11568/956055|hdl-access=free}} However, a third unnamed species is represented in the St. Marys Formation of Maryland known from fragmentary material.{{Cite journal|last1=Fuller|first1=Anna J.|last2=Godfrey|first2=Stephen J.|date=2007-06-12|title=A late Miocene ziphiid (Messapicetus sp.: Odontoceti: Cetacea) from the St. Marys Formation of Calvert Cliffs, Maryland|journal=Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology|volume=27|issue=2|pages=535–540|doi=10.1671/0272-4634(2007)27[535:ALMZMS]2.0.CO;2|s2cid=85606021 |issn=0272-4634}} M. gregarius is sexually dimorphic, males having tusks which are hypothesized to have been used in intraspecific combat for mates as in extant (living) beaked whales.{{Cite web|title=Messapicetus spp. {{!}} College of Osteopathic Medicine {{!}} NYIT|url=https://www.nyit.edu/medicine/messapicetus_spp|access-date=2020-08-28|website=www.nyit.edu}}