New fossil remains of the commensal barnacle Cryptolepas rhachianecti provide evidence of gray whales in the prehistoric South Pacific

Abstract We report the finding of two partial specimens of Cryptolepas rhachianecti (Cirripedia, Coronulidae), a coronulid barnacle known only to inhabit the skin of gray whales ( Eschrichtius robustus ), in Pleistocene-aged sediments from the Canoa Basin, Ecuador. While the historical range of gray...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of Paleontology
Main Authors: Taylor, Larry, Abella, Juan, Morales-Saldaña, Jorge Manuel
Other Authors: Grants for the incorporation of postdoctoral research staff into the Catalan science and technology system, within the Beatriu de Pinós programme
Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
Language:English
Published: Cambridge University Press (CUP) 2021
Subjects:
Paleontology
Pacific
North Atlantic
Online Access:http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/jpa.2021.113
https://www.cambridge.org/core/services/aop-cambridge-core/content/view/S002233602100113X
Description
Summary:Abstract We report the finding of two partial specimens of Cryptolepas rhachianecti (Cirripedia, Coronulidae), a coronulid barnacle known only to inhabit the skin of gray whales ( Eschrichtius robustus ), in Pleistocene-aged sediments from the Canoa Basin, Ecuador. While the historical range of gray whales includes the North Pacific and North Atlantic, to our knowledge this is the first inferred evidence of a gray whale population having resided within the South Pacific. We describe the two Cryptolepas rhachianecti fossils, use isotopic analysis to investigate evidence of migration in their host whales, and discuss their implications for our understanding of gray whale evolutionary history.

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