Balaenoptera

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Balaenoptera
Temporal range: Neogene–recent
LMazzuca Fin Whale.jpg
Fin whale
Scientific classification e
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Mammalia
Order: Artiodactyla
Infraorder: Cetacea
Family: Balaenopteridae
Genus: Balaenoptera
Lacépède, 1804
Type species
Balaenoptera physalus
Species

See text

Balaenoptera, from Latin: balaena ('whale') and Ancient Greek: pteron ('fin'), is a genus of Balaenopteridae, and contains eight extant species.[1] Balaenoptera comprises all but one of the extant species in its family (the Humpback whale).

This genus is known in the fossil records from the Neogene to the Quaternary (13.65 million years ago to the present).[2]

Fossil from the Pliocene in Italy

Taxonomy and systematics[]

The genus Balaenoptera contains the following extant species and subspecies:[1][3]

  • Common minke whale (Balaenoptera acutorostrata)
    • North Atlantic minke whale (Balaenoptera acutorostrata acutorostrata)
    • North Pacific minke whale (Balaenoptera acutorostrata scammoni)
  • Antarctic minke whale (Balaenoptera bonaerensis)
  • Sei whale (Balaenoptera borealis)
    • Northern sei whale (Balaenoptera borealis borealis)
    • Southern sei whale (Balaenoptera borealis schlegelii)
  • Bryde's whale (Balaenoptera edeni)
    • (Balaenoptera brydei or Balaenoptera edeni brydei) (taxonomy disputed)[4][5]
    • Eden's whale (Balaenoptera edeni edeni)
  • Blue whale (Balaenoptera musculus)
    • (Balaenoptera musculus musculus)
    • (Balaenoptera musculus intermedia)
    • (Balaenoptera musculus indica)
    • Pygmy blue whale (Balaenoptera musculus brevicauda)
  • Omura's whale (Balaenoptera omurai)
  • Fin whale (Balaenoptera physalus)
    • (Balaenoptera physalus patachonica)
    • (Balaenoptera physalus physalus)
    • Southern fin whale (Balaenoptera physalus quoyi)
    • (Balaenoptera physalus velifera)
  • Rice's whale (Balaenoptera ricei)

Fossil species[]

Many fossil Balaenoptera species have been described. Some (namely B. borealina, B. definata, B. emarginata, B. gibbosa, B. rostratella, and B. sibbaldina) are either nondiagnostic, highly fragmentary, or had no holotype specimen named, hence are considered nomina dubia.[6][7] The valid fossil species of Balaenoptera are:

  • †Balaenoptera bertae is a relatively small species from the Upper Miocene to Upper Pliocene Purisima Formation of California.[8]
  • † was originally thought to be a species of Eschrichtius (gray whales) or Cetotherium, but more recent analysis shows it to be a member of Balaenoptera.[9] Fossils of the species were found in the Calvert Formation of Maryland.[10]
  • † is known from four specimens, including four skulls and some postcranial remains, found at the San Diego Formation. It was a close relative of Megaptera novaeangliae (the humpback whale), B. siberi, and B. physalus (the fin whale).[11]
  • †"Balaenoptera" cortesii is a small species based on a juvenile specimen from ; it probably represents a distinct, unnamed genus of balaenopterid.[6]
  • †, like B. cephalus, was originally classified under Eschrichtius, but it has since been moved to Balaenoptera. It was native to the Pliocene San Diego Formation of California.[12] The only known fossil of B. davidsonii is a fragment of the left dentary.[13]
  • †"Balaenoptera" portisi is based on MGPT 13803 from Montafia (originally assigned to B. cortesii by Portis [1885]), and may be the same genus or species as Cetotheriophanes capellinii. The species "B. floridana" is indistinguishable from "B." portisi.[6]
  • †"Balaenoptera" ryani is a valid species but is not in fact a species of Balaenoptera. It probably represents a distinct genus of basal balaenopterid.[6]
  • †Balaenoptera siberi is known from two complete skeletons. Its affinity with the genus Balaenoptera has been questioned.[6][14]
  • † is a fragmentary species, based on a single fossilized tympanic bone.[15]
  • † is named after Taiwan, where the fossil was found in the Pliocene-aged .[16] B. taiwanica is also based on a single tympanic bone, which is similar to that of B. physalus, the fin whale.[17]

References[]

  1. ^ Jump up to: a b "List of marine mammal species and subspecies". Society for Marine Mammalogy. May 2020. Archived from the original on July 14, 2020. Retrieved July 20, 2020.
  2. ^ "Balaenoptera". Fossilworks.
  3. ^ Perrin, William; van der Land, Jacob (August 20, 2008). "Balaenoptera Lacépède, 1804". World Cetacea Database. World Register of Marine Species. Retrieved July 20, 2020.
  4. ^ Pastine, Luis A.; Acevedo, Jorge; Siciliano, Salvatore; Sholl, Thais G. C.; de Moura, Jailson F.; Ott, Paulo H.; Aguayo-Lobo, Anelio (December 2015). "Population genetic structure of the South American Bryde's whale". Revista de biología marina y oceanografía. 50 (3): 453–464. doi:10.4067/S0718-19572015000400005.
  5. ^ Fordyce, Ewan; Perrin, William; Vanden Berghe, Edward (July 13, 2020). "Balaenoptera brydei Olsen, 1913". World Cetacea Database. World Register of Marine Species. Retrieved July 20, 2020.
  6. ^ Jump up to: a b c d e Deméré; et al. (2005). "The Taxonomic and Evolutionary History of Fossil and Modern Balaenopteroid Mysticetes". Journal of Mammalian Evolution. 12 (1–2): 99–143. doi:10.1007/s10914-005-6944-3. S2CID 90231.
  7. ^ M. Bisconti. 2007. A new basal balaenopterid whale from the Pliocene of northern Italy. Palaeontology 50(5):1103-1122
  8. ^ Boessenecker, Robert W. "A new marine vertebrate assemblage from the Late Neogene Purisima Formation in Central California, part II: Pinnipeds and Cetaceans." Geodiversitas 35.4 (2012): 815-940.
  9. ^ R. E. Weems and L. E. Edwards. 2007. The age and provenance of "Eschrichtius" cephalus Cope (Mammalia: Cetacea). Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology 27(3):752-756
  10. ^ Balaenoptera cephalus at Fossilworks.org
  11. ^ Martin. (2014). From Finbacks to Humpbacks: Investigation of the Evolutionary History of Balaenopteridae Archived 2014-07-14 at the Wayback Machine.
  12. ^ Balaenoptera davidsonii at Fossilworks.org
  13. ^ T. Demere. 1986. The fossil whale, Balaenoptera davidsonii (Cope 1872), with a review of other Neogene species of Balaenoptera (Cetacea: Mysticeti). Marine Mammal Science 2(4):277-298
  14. ^ M. Bosselaers and K. Post. 2010. A new fossil rorqual (Mammalia, Cetacea, Balaenopteridae) from the Early Pliocene of the North Sea, with a review of the rorqual species described by Owen and Van Beneden. Geodiversitas 32(2):331-363
  15. ^ E. D. Cope. 1895. Fourth contribution to the marine fauna of the Miocene period of the United States. Proceedings of the American Philosophical Society 34:135-155
  16. ^ Balaenoptera taiwanica at Fossilworks.org
  17. ^ T. Huang. 1966. A new species of a whale tympanic bone from Taiwan, China. Transactions and Proceedings of the Paleontological Society of Japan 61:183-187

External links[]

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