Ocucajea fossil map
Where fossils of Ocucajea have been found, shown on the Earth as it looked about 30 million years ago and on today’s map.
Dots are fossil collections recorded in the Paleobiology Database. The “then” view moves today’s fossil sites back to their positions 30 million years ago (the time slice nearest the median age of the fossils) using the Merdith et al. (2021) plate model; positions are approximate. Open on the timeline map →
| Group | Early mammals |
|---|---|
| Lived | 41.03–33.9 million years ago (Bartonian to Priabonian) |
| Periods | Paleogene |
| Family | Basilosauridae |
| Named by | Uhen et al. 2011 |
| Fossil records | 2 occurrences at 1 locations (PBDB) |
| Found in | Peru |
| Rock formations | Paracas |
About Ocucajea
Ocucajea is an extinct genus of basilosaurid cetacean from Middle Eocene (Bartonian stage) deposits of southern Peru. Ocucajea is known from the holotype MUSM 1442, a partial skeleton. It was collected in the Archaeocete Valley site, from the Paracas Formation of the Pisco Basin about 40.4 to 37.2 million years ago.
The genus was named after the town Ocucaje in the Ica Province near the type locality, and the species after José Luis Pickling Zolezzi, naturalist, artist, and a vital contributor to Peruvian palaeontology.
Ocucajea is smaller than all other dorudontines. It differs from Saghacetus and Dorudon in cranial morphology; in Ocucajea the nasals extends further posteriorly than the maxillae, and there is no narial process of the frontal like in Saghacetus.
Text in “About” is quoted from the Wikipedia article Ocucajea (revision 1338074377), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0; introduction excerpted verbatim, formatting removed. Ages, family, authority and fossil records: Paleobiology Database, accessed 23 October 2026. Ages are those of the rock layers the fossils were found in. Wikidata: Q7077131.
