A new Early Oligocene toothed ‘baleen’ whale (Mysticeti: Aetiocetidae) from western North America: one of the oldest and the smallest
Archaic toothed mysticetes represent the evolutionary transition from raptorial to bulk filter feeding in baleen whales. Aetiocetids, in particular, preserve an intermediate morphological stage in which teeth functioned alongside a precursor of baleen, the hallmark of all modern mysticetes. To date,...
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crroyalsociety:10.1098/rsos.150476 2024-06-02T08:04:01+00:00 A new Early Oligocene toothed ‘baleen’ whale (Mysticeti: Aetiocetidae) from western North America: one of the oldest and the smallest Marx, Felix G. Tsai, Cheng-Hsiu Fordyce, R. Ewan Japan Society for the Promotion of Science University of Otago 2015 http://dx.doi.org/10.1098/rsos.150476 https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/pdf/10.1098/rsos.150476 https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/full-xml/10.1098/rsos.150476 en eng The Royal Society https://royalsociety.org/journals/ethics-policies/data-sharing-mining/ Royal Society Open Science volume 2, issue 12, page 150476 ISSN 2054-5703 journal-article 2015 crroyalsociety https://doi.org/10.1098/rsos.150476 2024-05-07T14:16:10Z Archaic toothed mysticetes represent the evolutionary transition from raptorial to bulk filter feeding in baleen whales. Aetiocetids, in particular, preserve an intermediate morphological stage in which teeth functioned alongside a precursor of baleen, the hallmark of all modern mysticetes. To date, however, aetiocetids are almost exclusively Late Oligocene and coeval with both other toothed mysticetes and fully fledged filter feeders. By contrast, reports of cetaceans from the Early Oligocene remain rare, leaving the origins of aetiocetids, and thus of baleen, largely in the dark. Here, we report a new aetiocetid, Fucaia buelli , from the earliest Oligocene ( ca 33–31 Ma) of western North America. The new material narrows the temporal gap between aetiocetids and the oldest known mysticete, Llanocetus ( ca 34 Ma). The specimen preserves abundant morphological detail relating to the phylogenetically informative ear bones (otherwise poorly documented in this family), the hyoid apparatus and much of the (heterodont) dentition. Fucaia comprises some of the smallest known mysticetes, comparable in size with the smallest odontocetes. Based on their phylogenetic relationships and dental and mandibular morphology, including tooth wear patterns, we propose that aetiocetids were suction-assisted raptorial feeders and interpret this strategy as a crucial, intermediary step, enabling the transition from raptorial to filter feeding. Following this line of argument, a combination of raptorial and suction feeding would have been ancestral to all toothed mysticetes, and possibly even baleen whales as a whole. Article in Journal/Newspaper baleen whale baleen whales The Royal Society Narrows The ENVELOPE(-67.167,-67.167,-67.617,-67.617) Royal Society Open Science 2 12 150476 |
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The Royal Society |
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English |
description |
Archaic toothed mysticetes represent the evolutionary transition from raptorial to bulk filter feeding in baleen whales. Aetiocetids, in particular, preserve an intermediate morphological stage in which teeth functioned alongside a precursor of baleen, the hallmark of all modern mysticetes. To date, however, aetiocetids are almost exclusively Late Oligocene and coeval with both other toothed mysticetes and fully fledged filter feeders. By contrast, reports of cetaceans from the Early Oligocene remain rare, leaving the origins of aetiocetids, and thus of baleen, largely in the dark. Here, we report a new aetiocetid, Fucaia buelli , from the earliest Oligocene ( ca 33–31 Ma) of western North America. The new material narrows the temporal gap between aetiocetids and the oldest known mysticete, Llanocetus ( ca 34 Ma). The specimen preserves abundant morphological detail relating to the phylogenetically informative ear bones (otherwise poorly documented in this family), the hyoid apparatus and much of the (heterodont) dentition. Fucaia comprises some of the smallest known mysticetes, comparable in size with the smallest odontocetes. Based on their phylogenetic relationships and dental and mandibular morphology, including tooth wear patterns, we propose that aetiocetids were suction-assisted raptorial feeders and interpret this strategy as a crucial, intermediary step, enabling the transition from raptorial to filter feeding. Following this line of argument, a combination of raptorial and suction feeding would have been ancestral to all toothed mysticetes, and possibly even baleen whales as a whole. |
author2 |
Japan Society for the Promotion of Science University of Otago |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Marx, Felix G. Tsai, Cheng-Hsiu Fordyce, R. Ewan |
spellingShingle |
Marx, Felix G. Tsai, Cheng-Hsiu Fordyce, R. Ewan A new Early Oligocene toothed ‘baleen’ whale (Mysticeti: Aetiocetidae) from western North America: one of the oldest and the smallest |
author_facet |
Marx, Felix G. Tsai, Cheng-Hsiu Fordyce, R. Ewan |
author_sort |
Marx, Felix G. |
title |
A new Early Oligocene toothed ‘baleen’ whale (Mysticeti: Aetiocetidae) from western North America: one of the oldest and the smallest |
title_short |
A new Early Oligocene toothed ‘baleen’ whale (Mysticeti: Aetiocetidae) from western North America: one of the oldest and the smallest |
title_full |
A new Early Oligocene toothed ‘baleen’ whale (Mysticeti: Aetiocetidae) from western North America: one of the oldest and the smallest |
title_fullStr |
A new Early Oligocene toothed ‘baleen’ whale (Mysticeti: Aetiocetidae) from western North America: one of the oldest and the smallest |
title_full_unstemmed |
A new Early Oligocene toothed ‘baleen’ whale (Mysticeti: Aetiocetidae) from western North America: one of the oldest and the smallest |
title_sort |
new early oligocene toothed ‘baleen’ whale (mysticeti: aetiocetidae) from western north america: one of the oldest and the smallest |
publisher |
The Royal Society |
publishDate |
2015 |
url |
http://dx.doi.org/10.1098/rsos.150476 https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/pdf/10.1098/rsos.150476 https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/full-xml/10.1098/rsos.150476 |
long_lat |
ENVELOPE(-67.167,-67.167,-67.617,-67.617) |
geographic |
Narrows The |
geographic_facet |
Narrows The |
genre |
baleen whale baleen whales |
genre_facet |
baleen whale baleen whales |
op_source |
Royal Society Open Science volume 2, issue 12, page 150476 ISSN 2054-5703 |
op_rights |
https://royalsociety.org/journals/ethics-policies/data-sharing-mining/ |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1098/rsos.150476 |
container_title |
Royal Society Open Science |
container_volume |
2 |
container_issue |
12 |
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150476 |
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1800748642985836544 |