Biology:Balaenula
| Balaenula | |
|---|---|
| |
| Balaenula balaenopsis holotype skeleton | |
Scientific classification 
| |
| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Mammalia |
| Order: | Artiodactyla |
| Infraorder: | Cetacea |
| Family: | Balaenidae |
| Genus: | †Balaenula van Beneden, 1872 |
| Type species | |
| Balaenula balaenopsis van Beneden, 1872
| |
| Species | |
Balaenula is an extinct genus of baleen whale species which lived during the Pliocene epoch of Europe and possibly North America.[3][4] Balaenula is a small whale measuring within the range of 6–8 metres (20–26 ft) in length.[5]
Taxonomy
Historically, Balaenula has been treated as a wastebasket taxon, so recent taxonomic revisions have resulted in only two named species of Balaenula to be known from the Pliocene epoch in the marine strata of Belgium and Italy, but the recognition of the type specimen as an individual is doubtful.[4]
An unnamed species previously described from Japan has been redescribed as a separate taxon Archaeobalaena dosanko.[4] An unnamed species with most complete specimen is known from the U.S.[6] (as well as the only one on display in North America[7]) was found at Lake Waccamaw, North Carolina in 2008. The whale's skull was excavated from the limestone outcropping by the state's Underwater Archaeology Branch, prepared, and permanently displayed at the Lake Waccamaw Depot Museum starting 2012.[8]
References
- ↑ P. J. Van Beneden. 1872. Les Baleines fossiles d'Anvers. Bulletins de L'Academie Royale des Sciences, des Lettres et des Beaux-arts 34:6-23
- ↑ L. Trevisan. 1942. Una nuova specie de Balaenula pliocenica. Palaeontogrphia Italica 40:1-13
- ↑ Churchill, M.; Berta, A.; Deméré, T. (2012). "The systematics of right whales (Mysteceti: Balaenidae)". Marine Mammal Science 28 (3): 497–521. doi:10.1111/j.1748-7692.2011.00504.x.
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 Yoshihiro Tanaka; Hitoshi Furusawa; Masaichi Kimura (2020). "A new member of fossil balaenid (Mysticeti, Cetacea) from the early Pliocene of Hokkaido, Japan". Royal Society Open Science 7 (4): Article ID 192182. doi:10.1098/rsos.192182. PMID 32431893. Bibcode: 2020RSOS....792182T.
- ↑ Marx, F.G.; Lambert, O. (2020). "Fossil record". The Bowhead Whale Balaena mysticetus: Biology and Human Interactions. Academic Press. ISBN 9780128189696. https://biblio.naturalsciences.be/library-1/rbins-staff-publications-2020/pdfs/Marx%20-%20Lambert_2020_fossil%20record_in%20bowhead%20book.pdf.
- ↑ ncstateparks (2012-08-29). "Prehistoric Whale Gets a Home at Lake Waccamaw State Park". https://ncstateparks.wordpress.com/2012/08/29/prehistoric-whale-gets-a-home-at-lake-waccamaw-state-park/.
- ↑ altondooley (2012-08-26). "Lake Waccamaw exhibit". https://vmnhpaleontology.wordpress.com/2012/08/26/lake-waccamaw-exhibit/.
- ↑ "Lake Waccamaw State Park to Dedicate Exhibit of Rare Whale Fossil | NC State Parks". http://www.ncparks.gov/newsroom/press-releases/lake-waccamaw-state-park-dedicate-exhibit-of-rare-whale-fossil.
Wikidata ☰ Q3633194 entry
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