A baleen whale from the Pliocene of Nicaragua

An incomplete fossil skeleton of a cetacean from San Rafael del Sur in southern Nicaragua consists of 14 vertebral centra, one humerus and 10 incomplete ribs. This fossil is from the Lower Pliocene El Salto Formation and it can be identified as a balaenopterid mysticete. This is the first cetacean f...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Revista Geológica de América Central
Main Authors: Lucas, Spencer G., McLeod, Samuel A., Barnes, Lawrence G., Alvarado, Guillermo E., García, Ramiro, Espinoza, Edgar
Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
Language:English
Published: Universidad de Costa Rica 2008
Subjects:
ballenas
misticeto
Nicaragua
Formación El Salto
Plioceno
whale
mysticete
El Salto Formation
Pliocene
Ballenas
baleen whale
Online Access:https://revistas.ucr.ac.cr/index.php/geologica/article/view/4175
https://doi.org/10.15517/rgac.v0i41.4175
Description
Summary:An incomplete fossil skeleton of a cetacean from San Rafael del Sur in southern Nicaragua consists of 14 vertebral centra, one humerus and 10 incomplete ribs. This fossil is from the Lower Pliocene El Salto Formation and it can be identified as a balaenopterid mysticete. This is the first cetacean fossil documented from Central America and is a rare occurrence of a mysticete whale in Neogene strata of the tropical latitudes. .

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