[1] Artiocetus' name arises from a combination of cetus and artiodactyl, as this fossil was the first to show that early whales possessed artiodactyl-like ankles.

It comes from Ancient Greek κῆτος (kētos), in reference to the sea monster goddess Ceto, daughter of Gaia and Pontus, and said to resemble a gigantic whale or fish.

Artiodactyla refers to the mammal order of even-toed ungulates the group containing cattle, deer, camels, giraffes, antelope, goats, sheep, pigs and hippopotamuses.

[5] Fossils located in 2001 in the Balochistan Province of Pakistan showed that Artiocetus had both an astragalus and cuboid bone in the ankle (a diagnostic traits of artiodactyls),[3] suggesting that early whales had fore and hind limbs.

In 2005, an international team of scientists suggested that whales and hippopotami share a common water and terrestrial dwelling ancestor, which lived 50 to 60 million years ago.