A bizarre new toothed mysticete (Cetacea) from Australia and the early evolution of baleen whales
Extant baleen whales (Cetacea, Mysticeti) are all large filter-feeding marine mammals that lack teeth as adults, instead possessing baleen, and feed on small marine animals in bulk. The early evolution of these superlative mammals, and their unique feeding method, has hitherto remained enigmatic. He...
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ftpubmed:oai:pubmedcentral.nih.gov:1639514 2023-05-15T15:37:06+02:00 A bizarre new toothed mysticete (Cetacea) from Australia and the early evolution of baleen whales Fitzgerald, Erich M.G 2006-08-15 http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1639514 http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/17015308 https://doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2006.3664 en eng The Royal Society http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1639514 http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/17015308 http://dx.doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2006.3664 © 2006 The Royal Society Research Article Text 2006 ftpubmed https://doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2006.3664 2013-08-31T10:07:47Z Extant baleen whales (Cetacea, Mysticeti) are all large filter-feeding marine mammals that lack teeth as adults, instead possessing baleen, and feed on small marine animals in bulk. The early evolution of these superlative mammals, and their unique feeding method, has hitherto remained enigmatic. Here, I report a new toothed mysticete from the Late Oligocene of Australia that is more archaic than any previously described. Unlike all other mysticetes, this new whale was small, had enormous eyes and lacked derived adaptations for bulk filter-feeding. Several morphological features suggest that this mysticete was a macrophagous predator, being convergent on some Mesozoic marine reptiles and the extant leopard seal (Hydrurga leptonyx). It thus refutes the notions that all stem mysticetes were filter-feeders, and that the origins and initial radiation of mysticetes was linked to the evolution of filter-feeding. Mysticetes evidently radiated into a variety of disparate forms and feeding ecologies before the evolution of baleen or filter-feeding. The phylogenetic context of the new whale indicates that basal mysticetes were macrophagous predators that did not employ filter-feeding or echolocation, and that the evolution of characters associated with bulk filter-feeding was gradual. Text baleen whales Hydrurga leptonyx Leopard Seal PubMed Central (PMC) Hydrurga ENVELOPE(-61.626,-61.626,-64.145,-64.145) Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences 273 1604 2955 2963 |
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Research Article Fitzgerald, Erich M.G A bizarre new toothed mysticete (Cetacea) from Australia and the early evolution of baleen whales |
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Research Article |
description |
Extant baleen whales (Cetacea, Mysticeti) are all large filter-feeding marine mammals that lack teeth as adults, instead possessing baleen, and feed on small marine animals in bulk. The early evolution of these superlative mammals, and their unique feeding method, has hitherto remained enigmatic. Here, I report a new toothed mysticete from the Late Oligocene of Australia that is more archaic than any previously described. Unlike all other mysticetes, this new whale was small, had enormous eyes and lacked derived adaptations for bulk filter-feeding. Several morphological features suggest that this mysticete was a macrophagous predator, being convergent on some Mesozoic marine reptiles and the extant leopard seal (Hydrurga leptonyx). It thus refutes the notions that all stem mysticetes were filter-feeders, and that the origins and initial radiation of mysticetes was linked to the evolution of filter-feeding. Mysticetes evidently radiated into a variety of disparate forms and feeding ecologies before the evolution of baleen or filter-feeding. The phylogenetic context of the new whale indicates that basal mysticetes were macrophagous predators that did not employ filter-feeding or echolocation, and that the evolution of characters associated with bulk filter-feeding was gradual. |
format |
Text |
author |
Fitzgerald, Erich M.G |
author_facet |
Fitzgerald, Erich M.G |
author_sort |
Fitzgerald, Erich M.G |
title |
A bizarre new toothed mysticete (Cetacea) from Australia and the early evolution of baleen whales |
title_short |
A bizarre new toothed mysticete (Cetacea) from Australia and the early evolution of baleen whales |
title_full |
A bizarre new toothed mysticete (Cetacea) from Australia and the early evolution of baleen whales |
title_fullStr |
A bizarre new toothed mysticete (Cetacea) from Australia and the early evolution of baleen whales |
title_full_unstemmed |
A bizarre new toothed mysticete (Cetacea) from Australia and the early evolution of baleen whales |
title_sort |
bizarre new toothed mysticete (cetacea) from australia and the early evolution of baleen whales |
publisher |
The Royal Society |
publishDate |
2006 |
url |
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1639514 http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/17015308 https://doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2006.3664 |
long_lat |
ENVELOPE(-61.626,-61.626,-64.145,-64.145) |
geographic |
Hydrurga |
geographic_facet |
Hydrurga |
genre |
baleen whales Hydrurga leptonyx Leopard Seal |
genre_facet |
baleen whales Hydrurga leptonyx Leopard Seal |
op_relation |
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1639514 http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/17015308 http://dx.doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2006.3664 |
op_rights |
© 2006 The Royal Society |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2006.3664 |
container_title |
Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences |
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273 |
container_issue |
1604 |
container_start_page |
2955 |
op_container_end_page |
2963 |
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1766367559724040192 |