A new balaenopterid whale from the late Miocene of the Southern North Sea Basin and the evolution of balaenopterid diversity (Cetacea, Mysticeti)
Background Balaenopterid mysticetes represent the most successful family-rank group of this clade. Their evolutionary history is characterized by a rich fossil record but the origin of the living genera is still largely not understood. Recent discoveries in the southern border of the North Sea revea...
Published in: | PeerJ |
---|---|
Main Authors: | , , |
Format: | Article in Journal/Newspaper |
Language: | English |
Published: |
PeerJ Inc.
2019
|
Subjects: | |
Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.7717/peerj.6915 https://doaj.org/article/c681a17e37ad4dbeb5e96457fc30b5e3 |
id |
ftdoajarticles:oai:doaj.org/article:c681a17e37ad4dbeb5e96457fc30b5e3 |
---|---|
record_format |
openpolar |
spelling |
ftdoajarticles:oai:doaj.org/article:c681a17e37ad4dbeb5e96457fc30b5e3 2024-01-07T09:43:48+01:00 A new balaenopterid whale from the late Miocene of the Southern North Sea Basin and the evolution of balaenopterid diversity (Cetacea, Mysticeti) Michelangelo Bisconti Dirk K. Munsterman Klaas Post 2019-05-01T00:00:00Z https://doi.org/10.7717/peerj.6915 https://doaj.org/article/c681a17e37ad4dbeb5e96457fc30b5e3 EN eng PeerJ Inc. https://peerj.com/articles/6915.pdf https://peerj.com/articles/6915/ https://doaj.org/toc/2167-8359 doi:10.7717/peerj.6915 2167-8359 https://doaj.org/article/c681a17e37ad4dbeb5e96457fc30b5e3 PeerJ, Vol 7, p e6915 (2019) Anatomy Balaenopteridae Cetacea Dynocists Miocene Mysticeti Medicine R Biology (General) QH301-705.5 article 2019 ftdoajarticles https://doi.org/10.7717/peerj.6915 2023-12-10T01:53:47Z Background Balaenopterid mysticetes represent the most successful family-rank group of this clade. Their evolutionary history is characterized by a rich fossil record but the origin of the living genera is still largely not understood. Recent discoveries in the southern border of the North Sea revealed a number of well preserved fossil balaenopterid whales that may help resolving this problem. In particular, skull NMR 14035 shares morphological characters with the living humpback whale, Megaptera novaeangliae and, for this reason, its characteristics are investigated here. Methods The comparative anatomical analysis of the new specimen formed the basis of a new phylogenetic analysis of the Mysticeti based on a matrix including 350 morphological character states scored for 82 Operational Taxonomic Units. The stratigraphic age of the specimen was determined based on the analysis of the dinocyst assemblage recovered in the associated sediment. We assessed clade diversity in Balaenopteridae by counting the numbers of clades in given time intervals and then plotted the results. Results Nehalaennia devossi n. gen. et sp. is described for the first time from the late Tortonian (8.7–8.1 Ma) of the Westerschelde (The Netherlands). This new taxon belongs to Balaenopteridae and shows a surprisingly high number of advanced characters in the skull morphology. Nehalaennia devossi is compared to a large sample of balaenopterid mysticetes and a phylogenetic analysis placed it as the sister group of a clade including the genus Archaebalaenoptera. The inclusion of this fossil allowed to propose a phylogenetic hypothesis for Balaenopteridae in which (1) Eschrichtiidae (gray whales) represents a family of its own, (2) Balaenopteridae + Eschrichtiidae form a monophyletic group (superfamily Balaenopteroidea), (3) Cetotheriidae is the sister group of Balaenopteroidea, (4) living Balaenoptera species form a monophyletic group and (5) living M. novaeangliae is the sister group of Balaenoptera. Our work reveals a complex phylogenetic ... Article in Journal/Newspaper Humpback Whale Megaptera novaeangliae Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles PeerJ 7 e6915 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles |
op_collection_id |
ftdoajarticles |
language |
English |
topic |
Anatomy Balaenopteridae Cetacea Dynocists Miocene Mysticeti Medicine R Biology (General) QH301-705.5 |
spellingShingle |
Anatomy Balaenopteridae Cetacea Dynocists Miocene Mysticeti Medicine R Biology (General) QH301-705.5 Michelangelo Bisconti Dirk K. Munsterman Klaas Post A new balaenopterid whale from the late Miocene of the Southern North Sea Basin and the evolution of balaenopterid diversity (Cetacea, Mysticeti) |
topic_facet |
Anatomy Balaenopteridae Cetacea Dynocists Miocene Mysticeti Medicine R Biology (General) QH301-705.5 |
description |
Background Balaenopterid mysticetes represent the most successful family-rank group of this clade. Their evolutionary history is characterized by a rich fossil record but the origin of the living genera is still largely not understood. Recent discoveries in the southern border of the North Sea revealed a number of well preserved fossil balaenopterid whales that may help resolving this problem. In particular, skull NMR 14035 shares morphological characters with the living humpback whale, Megaptera novaeangliae and, for this reason, its characteristics are investigated here. Methods The comparative anatomical analysis of the new specimen formed the basis of a new phylogenetic analysis of the Mysticeti based on a matrix including 350 morphological character states scored for 82 Operational Taxonomic Units. The stratigraphic age of the specimen was determined based on the analysis of the dinocyst assemblage recovered in the associated sediment. We assessed clade diversity in Balaenopteridae by counting the numbers of clades in given time intervals and then plotted the results. Results Nehalaennia devossi n. gen. et sp. is described for the first time from the late Tortonian (8.7–8.1 Ma) of the Westerschelde (The Netherlands). This new taxon belongs to Balaenopteridae and shows a surprisingly high number of advanced characters in the skull morphology. Nehalaennia devossi is compared to a large sample of balaenopterid mysticetes and a phylogenetic analysis placed it as the sister group of a clade including the genus Archaebalaenoptera. The inclusion of this fossil allowed to propose a phylogenetic hypothesis for Balaenopteridae in which (1) Eschrichtiidae (gray whales) represents a family of its own, (2) Balaenopteridae + Eschrichtiidae form a monophyletic group (superfamily Balaenopteroidea), (3) Cetotheriidae is the sister group of Balaenopteroidea, (4) living Balaenoptera species form a monophyletic group and (5) living M. novaeangliae is the sister group of Balaenoptera. Our work reveals a complex phylogenetic ... |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Michelangelo Bisconti Dirk K. Munsterman Klaas Post |
author_facet |
Michelangelo Bisconti Dirk K. Munsterman Klaas Post |
author_sort |
Michelangelo Bisconti |
title |
A new balaenopterid whale from the late Miocene of the Southern North Sea Basin and the evolution of balaenopterid diversity (Cetacea, Mysticeti) |
title_short |
A new balaenopterid whale from the late Miocene of the Southern North Sea Basin and the evolution of balaenopterid diversity (Cetacea, Mysticeti) |
title_full |
A new balaenopterid whale from the late Miocene of the Southern North Sea Basin and the evolution of balaenopterid diversity (Cetacea, Mysticeti) |
title_fullStr |
A new balaenopterid whale from the late Miocene of the Southern North Sea Basin and the evolution of balaenopterid diversity (Cetacea, Mysticeti) |
title_full_unstemmed |
A new balaenopterid whale from the late Miocene of the Southern North Sea Basin and the evolution of balaenopterid diversity (Cetacea, Mysticeti) |
title_sort |
new balaenopterid whale from the late miocene of the southern north sea basin and the evolution of balaenopterid diversity (cetacea, mysticeti) |
publisher |
PeerJ Inc. |
publishDate |
2019 |
url |
https://doi.org/10.7717/peerj.6915 https://doaj.org/article/c681a17e37ad4dbeb5e96457fc30b5e3 |
genre |
Humpback Whale Megaptera novaeangliae |
genre_facet |
Humpback Whale Megaptera novaeangliae |
op_source |
PeerJ, Vol 7, p e6915 (2019) |
op_relation |
https://peerj.com/articles/6915.pdf https://peerj.com/articles/6915/ https://doaj.org/toc/2167-8359 doi:10.7717/peerj.6915 2167-8359 https://doaj.org/article/c681a17e37ad4dbeb5e96457fc30b5e3 |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.7717/peerj.6915 |
container_title |
PeerJ |
container_volume |
7 |
container_start_page |
e6915 |
_version_ |
1787425091115548672 |