Skeletal Transformations and the Origin of Baleen Whales (Mammalia, Cetacea, Mysticeti): A Study on Evolutionary Patterns

• Published in: Diversity
• Main Authors: Michelangelo Bisconti, Giorgio Carnevale
• Format: Text
• Language: English
• Published: Multidisciplinary Digital Publishing Institute 2022
• Subjects: character distribution; evolution; fossil record; Mysticeti; paleontology; pattern; phylogeny; Fossa; baleen whale; baleen whales
• Online Access: https://doi.org/10.3390/d14030221

A review of the morphological patterns exhibited by all the main radiations of mysticete (baleen whale) cetaceans provided a broad assessment of the fundamental morphological transformations that occurred in the transition to the Mysticeti clade. Skull and postcranial characters were illustrated, de...