Eomysticetus

Eomysticetus is an extinct genus of baleen whale from the late Oligocene (Chattian) Chandler Bridge Formation of South Carolina.[1]

Eomysticetus
Temporal range: Chattian
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Mammalia
Order: Artiodactyla
Infraorder: Cetacea
Family: †Eomysticetidae
Genus: †Eomysticetus
Sanders and Barnes, 2002
Species

†E. carolinensis Sanders and Barnes, 2002
†E. whitmorei Sanders and Barnes, 2002 (type)

Taxonomy

Eomysticetus is a member of the family Eomysticetidae, which also includes Micromysticetus, Tohoraata, Tokarahia, and Yamatocetus.[2] There are two species of Eomysticetus, E. whitmorei and E. carolinensis, both from the Chandler Bridge Formation of South Carolina.[1]

Physical characteristics

The skull was around 1.5 metres (4.9 ft) in length.[3] Like more evolved baleen whales, its jaws had baleen instead of teeth, meaning that it could filter plankton with its baleen plates.[4][5][6][7] However, primitive baleen whales may have retained enamel coated teeth embedded in the gums, similar to modern sperm whales.[8] Baleen whales, as a group, may be sensitive to low-frequency sounds.[9]

Unlike modern baleen whales, Eomysticetus had a blowhole that was positioned ahead of the eyes, and the characteristics of its vertebrae and flipper bones are akin to those of archaeocetes like Basilosaurus.[4]

References
  1. Sanders, A. E.; Barnes, L. G. (2002). "Paleontology of the Late Oligocene Ashley and Chandler Bridge Formations of South Carolina, 3: Eomysticetidae, a new family of primitive mysticetes (Mammalia: Cetacea)". In Emry, R. J. (ed.). Cenozoic Mammals of Land and Sea: Tributes to the Career of Clayton E. Ray. Smithsonian Contributions to Paleobiology. 93. pp. 313–356. hdl:10088/22502. (148Mb)
  2. Boessenecker, Robert W. "Dissertation research on archaic fossil baleen whales (Eomysticetidae) from the Oligocene of New Zealand". Retrieved 12 October 2014.
  3. Berta, A.; Deméré, T. A. (2009). "Mysticetes, Evolution". Encyclopedia of Marine Mammals. pp. 751–752. doi:10.1016/B978-0-12-373553-9.00175-9. ISBN 9780123735539.
  4. "Eomysticetus whitmorei". NYIT College of Osteopathic Medicine. Retrieved 12 October 2014.
  5. Y. Okazaki. 2012. A new mysticete form the upper Oligocene Ashiya Group, Kyushu, Japan and its significance to mysticete evolution. Bulletin of the Kitakyushu Museum of Natural History and Human History Series A (Natural History) 10:129-152
  6. Boessenecker, R. W., Fordyce, R. E. (2014), A new Eomysticetid (Mammalia: Cetacea) from the Late Oligocene of New Zealand and a re-evaluation of ‘Mauicetus’ waitakiensis. Papers in Palaeontology. doi: 10.1002/spp2.1005
  7. Robert W. Boessenecker and R. Ewan Fordyce (2015). "A new genus and species of eomysticetid (Cetacea: Mysticeti) and a reinterpretation of ‘Mauicetus’ lophocephalus Marples, 1956: Transitional baleen whales from the upper Oligocene of New Zealand". Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society. in press. doi:10.1111/zoj.12297.
  8. Meredith, R. W.; Gatesy, J.; Cheng, J.; Springer, M. S. (2011). "Pseudogenization of the tooth gene enamelysin (MMP20) in the common ancestor of extant baleen whales". Proceedings of the Royal Society B. 278 (1708): 993–1002. doi:10.1098/rspb.2010.1280. JSTOR 41148721. PMC 3049022. PMID 20861053.
  9. Ekdale, E. G. (2016). "Morphological variation among the inner ears of extinct and extant baleen whales (Cetacea: Mysticeti)". Journal of Morphology. 277 (12): 1599–1615. doi:10.1002/jmor.20610. PMID 27627739. S2CID 24764616.
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