Rise of the titans: baleen whales became giants earlier than thought
Baleen whales (Mysticeti) are major ecosystem engineers, thanks to their enormous size and bulk filter feeding strategy. Their signature gigantism is thought to be a relatively recent phenomenon, resulting from a Plio-Pleistocene mode shift in their body size evolution. Here, we report the largest w...
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ftvliz:oai:oma.vliz.be:323192 2023-05-15T15:37:03+02:00 Rise of the titans: baleen whales became giants earlier than thought Bianucci, G. Marx, F.G. Collareta, A. Di Stefano, A. Landini, W. Morigi, C. Varola, A. 2019 http://www.vliz.be/nl/open-marien-archief?module=ref&refid=323192 en eng info:eu-repo/semantics/altIdentifier/wos/000470116400019 info:eu-repo/semantics/altIdentifier/doi/doi.org/10.1098/rsbl.2019.0175 http://www.vliz.be/nl/open-marien-archief?module=ref&refid=323192 info:eu-repo/semantics/restrictedAccess %3Ci%3EBiol.+Lett.+15%285%29%3C%2Fi%3E%3A+20190175.+%3Ca+href%3D%22https%3A%2F%2Fdx.doi.org%2F10.1098%2Frsbl.2019.0175%22+target%3D%22_blank%22%3Ehttps%3A%2F%2Fdx.doi.org%2F10.1098%2Frsbl.2019.0175%3C%2Fa%3E Mysticeti [baleen whales] info:eu-repo/semantics/article info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion 2019 ftvliz https://doi.org/10.1098/rsbl.2019.0175 2022-05-01T11:35:30Z Baleen whales (Mysticeti) are major ecosystem engineers, thanks to their enormous size and bulk filter feeding strategy. Their signature gigantism is thought to be a relatively recent phenomenon, resulting from a Plio-Pleistocene mode shift in their body size evolution. Here, we report the largest whale fossil ever described: an Early Pleistocene (1.5-1.25 Ma) blue whale from Italy with an estimated body length of up to 26 m. Macroevolutionary modelling taking into account this specimen, as well as additional material from the Miocene of Peru, reveals that the proposed mode shift occurred either somewhat earlier, or perhaps not at all. Large-sized mysticetes comparable to most extant species have existed since at least the Late Miocene, suggesting a long-term impact on global marine ecosystems. Article in Journal/Newspaper baleen whales Blue whale Flanders Marine Institute (VLIZ): Open Marine Archive (OMA) Biology Letters 15 5 20190175 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
Flanders Marine Institute (VLIZ): Open Marine Archive (OMA) |
op_collection_id |
ftvliz |
language |
English |
topic |
Mysticeti [baleen whales] |
spellingShingle |
Mysticeti [baleen whales] Bianucci, G. Marx, F.G. Collareta, A. Di Stefano, A. Landini, W. Morigi, C. Varola, A. Rise of the titans: baleen whales became giants earlier than thought |
topic_facet |
Mysticeti [baleen whales] |
description |
Baleen whales (Mysticeti) are major ecosystem engineers, thanks to their enormous size and bulk filter feeding strategy. Their signature gigantism is thought to be a relatively recent phenomenon, resulting from a Plio-Pleistocene mode shift in their body size evolution. Here, we report the largest whale fossil ever described: an Early Pleistocene (1.5-1.25 Ma) blue whale from Italy with an estimated body length of up to 26 m. Macroevolutionary modelling taking into account this specimen, as well as additional material from the Miocene of Peru, reveals that the proposed mode shift occurred either somewhat earlier, or perhaps not at all. Large-sized mysticetes comparable to most extant species have existed since at least the Late Miocene, suggesting a long-term impact on global marine ecosystems. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Bianucci, G. Marx, F.G. Collareta, A. Di Stefano, A. Landini, W. Morigi, C. Varola, A. |
author_facet |
Bianucci, G. Marx, F.G. Collareta, A. Di Stefano, A. Landini, W. Morigi, C. Varola, A. |
author_sort |
Bianucci, G. |
title |
Rise of the titans: baleen whales became giants earlier than thought |
title_short |
Rise of the titans: baleen whales became giants earlier than thought |
title_full |
Rise of the titans: baleen whales became giants earlier than thought |
title_fullStr |
Rise of the titans: baleen whales became giants earlier than thought |
title_full_unstemmed |
Rise of the titans: baleen whales became giants earlier than thought |
title_sort |
rise of the titans: baleen whales became giants earlier than thought |
publishDate |
2019 |
url |
http://www.vliz.be/nl/open-marien-archief?module=ref&refid=323192 |
genre |
baleen whales Blue whale |
genre_facet |
baleen whales Blue whale |
op_source |
%3Ci%3EBiol.+Lett.+15%285%29%3C%2Fi%3E%3A+20190175.+%3Ca+href%3D%22https%3A%2F%2Fdx.doi.org%2F10.1098%2Frsbl.2019.0175%22+target%3D%22_blank%22%3Ehttps%3A%2F%2Fdx.doi.org%2F10.1098%2Frsbl.2019.0175%3C%2Fa%3E |
op_relation |
info:eu-repo/semantics/altIdentifier/wos/000470116400019 info:eu-repo/semantics/altIdentifier/doi/doi.org/10.1098/rsbl.2019.0175 http://www.vliz.be/nl/open-marien-archief?module=ref&refid=323192 |
op_rights |
info:eu-repo/semantics/restrictedAccess |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1098/rsbl.2019.0175 |
container_title |
Biology Letters |
container_volume |
15 |
container_issue |
5 |
container_start_page |
20190175 |
_version_ |
1766367497485811712 |