A small whale reveals diversity of the Eocene cetacean fauna of Antarctica
Cetacean fossils have been recorded from middle and late Eocene deposits on Seymour Island since the beginning of the twentieth century and include fully aquatic Basilosauridae and stem Neoceti. Here, we report a small cetacean vertebra tentatively referred to as Neoceti from the late Eocene of Seym...
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Naturhistoriska riksmuseet, Enheten för paleobiologi
2021
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ftnrm:oai:DiVA.org:nrm-4578 2023-05-15T14:05:22+02:00 A small whale reveals diversity of the Eocene cetacean fauna of Antarctica Davydenko, Svitozar Mörs, Thomas Gol'din, Pavel anon, anon 2021 application/pdf http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:nrm:diva-4578 https://doi.org/10.1017/s0954102020000516 eng eng Naturhistoriska riksmuseet, Enheten för paleobiologi Schmalhausen Institute of Zoology, National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine Cambridge Antarctic Science, 0954-1020, 2021, 33:1, s. 81-88 orcid:0000-0002-4780-5338 orcid:0000-0003-2268-5824 orcid:0000-0001-6118-1384 http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:nrm:diva-4578 doi:10.1017/s0954102020000516 info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess Other Earth and Related Environmental Sciences Annan geovetenskap och miljövetenskap Article in journal info:eu-repo/semantics/article text 2021 ftnrm https://doi.org/10.1017/s0954102020000516 2022-01-13T17:17:03Z Cetacean fossils have been recorded from middle and late Eocene deposits on Seymour Island since the beginning of the twentieth century and include fully aquatic Basilosauridae and stem Neoceti. Here, we report a small cetacean vertebra tentatively referred to as Neoceti from the late Eocene of Seymour Island. It shows a mosaic of traits, some of which are characteristic of early Neoceti (anteroposteriorly long transverse processes; a ventral keel on the ventral side of the centrum; thin pedicles of the neural arch), whereas others are shared with Basilosauridae (low-placed bases of the transverse processes). However, some traits are unique and may be autapomorphic: presence of separate prezygapophyses on the vertebra at the thoracic/lumbar boundary and a proportionally short centrum. Both traits imply a fast swimming style, which is characteristic of modern dolphins rather than Eocene cetaceans. Thus, this specimen can be identified as Neoceti indet., with some hypothetical odontocete affinities. Along with a few other Eocene whale taxa, it seems to be among the earliest known members of Neoceti on Earth. The finding of small and fast-swimming Neoceti in Antarctica also demonstrates early diversification of cetaceans and ecological niche partitioning by them dating back as early as the late Eocene. Article in Journal/Newspaper Antarc* Antarctic Science Antarctica Seymour Island Swedish Museum of Natural History: Publications (DiVA) Seymour ENVELOPE(-56.767,-56.767,-64.283,-64.283) Seymour Island ENVELOPE(-56.750,-56.750,-64.283,-64.283) Antarctic Science 33 1 81 88 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
Swedish Museum of Natural History: Publications (DiVA) |
op_collection_id |
ftnrm |
language |
English |
topic |
Other Earth and Related Environmental Sciences Annan geovetenskap och miljövetenskap |
spellingShingle |
Other Earth and Related Environmental Sciences Annan geovetenskap och miljövetenskap Davydenko, Svitozar Mörs, Thomas Gol'din, Pavel anon, anon A small whale reveals diversity of the Eocene cetacean fauna of Antarctica |
topic_facet |
Other Earth and Related Environmental Sciences Annan geovetenskap och miljövetenskap |
description |
Cetacean fossils have been recorded from middle and late Eocene deposits on Seymour Island since the beginning of the twentieth century and include fully aquatic Basilosauridae and stem Neoceti. Here, we report a small cetacean vertebra tentatively referred to as Neoceti from the late Eocene of Seymour Island. It shows a mosaic of traits, some of which are characteristic of early Neoceti (anteroposteriorly long transverse processes; a ventral keel on the ventral side of the centrum; thin pedicles of the neural arch), whereas others are shared with Basilosauridae (low-placed bases of the transverse processes). However, some traits are unique and may be autapomorphic: presence of separate prezygapophyses on the vertebra at the thoracic/lumbar boundary and a proportionally short centrum. Both traits imply a fast swimming style, which is characteristic of modern dolphins rather than Eocene cetaceans. Thus, this specimen can be identified as Neoceti indet., with some hypothetical odontocete affinities. Along with a few other Eocene whale taxa, it seems to be among the earliest known members of Neoceti on Earth. The finding of small and fast-swimming Neoceti in Antarctica also demonstrates early diversification of cetaceans and ecological niche partitioning by them dating back as early as the late Eocene. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Davydenko, Svitozar Mörs, Thomas Gol'din, Pavel anon, anon |
author_facet |
Davydenko, Svitozar Mörs, Thomas Gol'din, Pavel anon, anon |
author_sort |
Davydenko, Svitozar |
title |
A small whale reveals diversity of the Eocene cetacean fauna of Antarctica |
title_short |
A small whale reveals diversity of the Eocene cetacean fauna of Antarctica |
title_full |
A small whale reveals diversity of the Eocene cetacean fauna of Antarctica |
title_fullStr |
A small whale reveals diversity of the Eocene cetacean fauna of Antarctica |
title_full_unstemmed |
A small whale reveals diversity of the Eocene cetacean fauna of Antarctica |
title_sort |
small whale reveals diversity of the eocene cetacean fauna of antarctica |
publisher |
Naturhistoriska riksmuseet, Enheten för paleobiologi |
publishDate |
2021 |
url |
http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:nrm:diva-4578 https://doi.org/10.1017/s0954102020000516 |
long_lat |
ENVELOPE(-56.767,-56.767,-64.283,-64.283) ENVELOPE(-56.750,-56.750,-64.283,-64.283) |
geographic |
Seymour Seymour Island |
geographic_facet |
Seymour Seymour Island |
genre |
Antarc* Antarctic Science Antarctica Seymour Island |
genre_facet |
Antarc* Antarctic Science Antarctica Seymour Island |
op_relation |
Antarctic Science, 0954-1020, 2021, 33:1, s. 81-88 orcid:0000-0002-4780-5338 orcid:0000-0003-2268-5824 orcid:0000-0001-6118-1384 http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:nrm:diva-4578 doi:10.1017/s0954102020000516 |
op_rights |
info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1017/s0954102020000516 |
container_title |
Antarctic Science |
container_volume |
33 |
container_issue |
1 |
container_start_page |
81 |
op_container_end_page |
88 |
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1766277193904685056 |