Balaenoptera BERTAE N., n.

• Main Author: Boessenecker, Robert W.
• Format: Other/Unknown Material
• Language: unknown
• Published: 2013
• Subjects: Biodiversity; Taxonomy; Animalia; Chordata; Mammalia; Cetacea; Balaenopteridae; Balaenoptera; Fossa; Balaenoptera acutorostrata
• Online Access: https://zenodo.org/record/4818610; https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.4818610

Balaenoptera bertae n. sp. (Figs 11-15) HOLOTYPE. — UCMP 219078, a partial skull lacking the premaxillae, maxillae, nasals, jugals, tympanic bullae, and bodies of the petrosal, excavated by R. W. Boessenecker, E. Johnson, T. Palladino, and M. Berrini from UCMP locality V99849 from August 12-15, 2005. TENTATIVELY REFERRED SPECIMENS. — UCMP 131815, a partial juvenile cranium including the vertex, supraorbital processes of the frontals, palatines, and tips of the zygomatic processes collected in 1985 by a UCMP party from UCMP locality V85027; UCMP uncataloged, an isolated squamosal from UCMP locality V99868. ETYMOLOGY. — Honouring Dr Annalisa Berta (San Diego State University), for her many contributions to the study of fossil cetaceans and pinnipeds. DIAGNOSIS. — Balaenoptera bertae n. sp. is a small balaenopterid (estimated bizygomatic width of 61.4 cm), smaller in size than extant Balaenoptera acutorostrata Lacépède, 1804, characterized by: broadly triangular occipital shield that laterally overhangs the temporal fossa and exhibits a flattened apex, large occipital condyles, little to no parietal exposed dorsally at the transversely narrow vertex, squamosal with short, anteriorly directed zygomatic process, posteriorly elongate postglenoid process, prominent squamosal crease, frontal with rectangular supraorbital process with transversely oriented anterior margin, frontal that is abruptly depressed below the vertex and obliquely oriented so that this surface and anterior wing of parietal are visible in dorsal aspect, large petrosal fossa (sensu Mead & Fordyce 2009), and a posterior process of the petrotympanic that is relatively short and inflated. STRATIGRAPHIC OCCURRENCE. — Uppermost part of the San Gregorio section of the Purisima Formation (sensu Powell et al. 2007) that is bracketed below by an ash bed correlated with the 3.3-3.4 Ma Putah Tuff (Powell et al. 2007) and above by another ash bed correlated with the 2.5 ± 0.2 Ma Ishi Tuff. Ŋis indicates an age of 3.35-2.5 Ma, or Early to Late ...