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Definition of Mysticeti in English:

Mysticeti

plural noun

Zoology

  • A division of the whales that comprises the baleen whales.

    Suborder Mysticeti, order Cetacea

    ‘Modern whales may be divided into two subgroups: the Odontoceti (toothed whales) and the Mysticeti (baleen whales).’
    • ‘The extant sub-orders are the Mysticeti (baleen whales) and the Odontoceti (toothed whales).’
    • ‘Estimates for Tragulidae, Odontoceti, and Mysticeti are generally younger and close together in time, followed by a still more recent divergence of cervids, bovids, antilocaprids and giraffids.’
    • ‘In the Late Oligocene, a fundamental split occurred between the Odontoceti and the Mysticeti.’

Pronunciation

Mysticeti

/ˌmistəˈsēdē/ /ˌmɪstəˈsidi/

Origin

Modern Latin (plural), from Greek mustikētos representing (in old editions of Aristotle) the phrase ho mus to kētos ‘the mouse, the whale so called’.