No deep diving: evidence of predation on epipelagic fish for a stem beaked whale from the Late Miocene of Peru
Although modern beaked whales (Ziphiidae) are known to be highly specialized toothed whales that predominantly feed at great depths upon benthic and benthopelagic prey, only limited palaeontological data document this major ecological shift. We report on a ziphiid–fish assemblage from the Late Mioce...
Published in: | Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences |
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Language: | English |
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Online Access: | http://dx.doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2015.1530 https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/pdf/10.1098/rspb.2015.1530 https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/full-xml/10.1098/rspb.2015.1530 |
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crroyalsociety:10.1098/rspb.2015.1530 2024-09-15T18:39:12+00:00 No deep diving: evidence of predation on epipelagic fish for a stem beaked whale from the Late Miocene of Peru Lambert, Olivier Collareta, Alberto Landini, Walter Post, Klaas Ramassamy, Benjamin Di Celma, Claudio Urbina, Mario Bianucci, Giovanni 2015 http://dx.doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2015.1530 https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/pdf/10.1098/rspb.2015.1530 https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/full-xml/10.1098/rspb.2015.1530 en eng The Royal Society https://royalsociety.org/journals/ethics-policies/data-sharing-mining/ Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences volume 282, issue 1815, page 20151530 ISSN 0962-8452 1471-2954 journal-article 2015 crroyalsociety https://doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2015.1530 2024-08-12T04:27:39Z Although modern beaked whales (Ziphiidae) are known to be highly specialized toothed whales that predominantly feed at great depths upon benthic and benthopelagic prey, only limited palaeontological data document this major ecological shift. We report on a ziphiid–fish assemblage from the Late Miocene of Peru that we interpret as the first direct evidence of a predator–prey relationship between a ziphiid and epipelagic fish. Preserved in a dolomite concretion, a skeleton of the stem ziphiid Messapicetus gregarius was discovered together with numerous skeletons of a clupeiform fish closely related to the epipelagic extant Pacific sardine ( Sardinops sagax ). Based on the position of fish individuals along the head and chest regions of the ziphiid, the lack of digestion marks on fish remains and the homogeneous size of individuals, we propose that this assemblage results from the death of the whale (possibly via toxin poisoning) shortly after the capture of prey from a single school. Together with morphological data and the frequent discovery of fossil crown ziphiids in deep-sea deposits, this exceptional record supports the hypothesis that only more derived ziphiids were regular deep divers and that the extinction of epipelagic forms may coincide with the radiation of true dolphins. Article in Journal/Newspaper toothed whales The Royal Society Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences 282 1815 20151530 |
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collection |
The Royal Society |
op_collection_id |
crroyalsociety |
language |
English |
description |
Although modern beaked whales (Ziphiidae) are known to be highly specialized toothed whales that predominantly feed at great depths upon benthic and benthopelagic prey, only limited palaeontological data document this major ecological shift. We report on a ziphiid–fish assemblage from the Late Miocene of Peru that we interpret as the first direct evidence of a predator–prey relationship between a ziphiid and epipelagic fish. Preserved in a dolomite concretion, a skeleton of the stem ziphiid Messapicetus gregarius was discovered together with numerous skeletons of a clupeiform fish closely related to the epipelagic extant Pacific sardine ( Sardinops sagax ). Based on the position of fish individuals along the head and chest regions of the ziphiid, the lack of digestion marks on fish remains and the homogeneous size of individuals, we propose that this assemblage results from the death of the whale (possibly via toxin poisoning) shortly after the capture of prey from a single school. Together with morphological data and the frequent discovery of fossil crown ziphiids in deep-sea deposits, this exceptional record supports the hypothesis that only more derived ziphiids were regular deep divers and that the extinction of epipelagic forms may coincide with the radiation of true dolphins. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Lambert, Olivier Collareta, Alberto Landini, Walter Post, Klaas Ramassamy, Benjamin Di Celma, Claudio Urbina, Mario Bianucci, Giovanni |
spellingShingle |
Lambert, Olivier Collareta, Alberto Landini, Walter Post, Klaas Ramassamy, Benjamin Di Celma, Claudio Urbina, Mario Bianucci, Giovanni No deep diving: evidence of predation on epipelagic fish for a stem beaked whale from the Late Miocene of Peru |
author_facet |
Lambert, Olivier Collareta, Alberto Landini, Walter Post, Klaas Ramassamy, Benjamin Di Celma, Claudio Urbina, Mario Bianucci, Giovanni |
author_sort |
Lambert, Olivier |
title |
No deep diving: evidence of predation on epipelagic fish for a stem beaked whale from the Late Miocene of Peru |
title_short |
No deep diving: evidence of predation on epipelagic fish for a stem beaked whale from the Late Miocene of Peru |
title_full |
No deep diving: evidence of predation on epipelagic fish for a stem beaked whale from the Late Miocene of Peru |
title_fullStr |
No deep diving: evidence of predation on epipelagic fish for a stem beaked whale from the Late Miocene of Peru |
title_full_unstemmed |
No deep diving: evidence of predation on epipelagic fish for a stem beaked whale from the Late Miocene of Peru |
title_sort |
no deep diving: evidence of predation on epipelagic fish for a stem beaked whale from the late miocene of peru |
publisher |
The Royal Society |
publishDate |
2015 |
url |
http://dx.doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2015.1530 https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/pdf/10.1098/rspb.2015.1530 https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/full-xml/10.1098/rspb.2015.1530 |
genre |
toothed whales |
genre_facet |
toothed whales |
op_source |
Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences volume 282, issue 1815, page 20151530 ISSN 0962-8452 1471-2954 |
op_rights |
https://royalsociety.org/journals/ethics-policies/data-sharing-mining/ |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2015.1530 |
container_title |
Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences |
container_volume |
282 |
container_issue |
1815 |
container_start_page |
20151530 |
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1810483607440982016 |