Supplementary material from "A new archaic baleen whale, Toipahautea waitaki (early-Late Oligocene, New Zealand) and the origins of crown Mysticeti" ...
A new genus and species of extinct baleen whale, †Toipahautea waitaki (Late Oligocene, New Zealand) is based on a skull and associated bones, from the lower Kokoamu Greensand, about 27.5 Ma (local upper Whaingaroan Stage, early Chattian). The upper jaw includes a thin, elongate and apparently toothl...
| Main Authors: | , |
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| Format: | Article in Journal/Newspaper |
| Language: | unknown |
| Published: |
The Royal Society
2018
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| Online Access: | https://dx.doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.c.4052780.v1 https://rs.figshare.com/collections/Supplementary_material_from_A_new_archaic_baleen_whale_i_Toipahautea_waitaki_i_early-Late_Oligocene_New_Zealand_and_the_origins_of_crown_Mysticeti_/4052780/1 |
| Summary: | A new genus and species of extinct baleen whale, †Toipahautea waitaki (Late Oligocene, New Zealand) is based on a skull and associated bones, from the lower Kokoamu Greensand, about 27.5 Ma (local upper Whaingaroan Stage, early Chattian). The upper jaw includes a thin, elongate and apparently toothless maxilla, with evidence of arterial supply for baleen. Open sutures with the premaxilla suggest a flexible (kinetic) upper jaw. The blowhole is well forward. The mandible is bowed laterally and slightly dorsally; unlike the Eomysticetidae, there are no mandibular alveoli, and the coronoid process is tapered and curved laterally. Jaw structure is consistent with baleen-assisted gulp-feeding. The age of early Chattian makes †Toipahautea a very early, if not the oldest named, toothless and baleen-bearing mysticete, suggesting that the full transition from toothed to baleen-bearing probably occurred in the Early Oligocene. Late Oligocene mysticetes vary considerably in jaw form and kinesis, tooth form and function, ... |
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