New sperm whale remains from the late Miocene of the North Sea and a revised family attribution for the small crown physeteroid Thalassocetus Abel, 1905
In spite of a continuously expanding physeteroid fossil record, our understanding of the origin and early radiation of the two modern sperm whale families Kogiidae Gill, 1871 (including the pygmy and dwarf sperm whales, Kogia spp.) and Physeteridae Gray, 1821 (including the great sperm whale, Physet...
Published in: | Comptes Rendus Palevol |
---|---|
Main Authors: | , , |
Format: | Article in Journal/Newspaper |
Language: | English |
Published: |
Zenodo
2021
|
Subjects: | |
Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.5852/cr-palevol2021v20a39 |
id |
ftzenodo:oai:zenodo.org:5596632 |
---|---|
record_format |
openpolar |
spelling |
ftzenodo:oai:zenodo.org:5596632 2024-09-15T18:37:32+00:00 New sperm whale remains from the late Miocene of the North Sea and a revised family attribution for the small crown physeteroid Thalassocetus Abel, 1905 Apolline ALFSEN Mark BOSSELAERS Olivier LAMBERT 2021-10-11 https://doi.org/10.5852/cr-palevol2021v20a39 eng eng Zenodo https://doi.org/10.5852/cr-palevol2021v20a39 oai:zenodo.org:5596632 info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess Other (Not Open) Comptes Rendus Palevol, 20(39), 807-822, (2021-10-11) Cetacea Physeteridae Kogiidae Thalassocetus late Miocene North Sea info:eu-repo/semantics/article 2021 ftzenodo https://doi.org/10.5852/cr-palevol2021v20a39 2024-07-27T00:21:49Z In spite of a continuously expanding physeteroid fossil record, our understanding of the origin and early radiation of the two modern sperm whale families Kogiidae Gill, 1871 (including the pygmy and dwarf sperm whales, Kogia spp.) and Physeteridae Gray, 1821 (including the great sperm whale, Physeter Linnaeus, 1758) remains limited, especially due to the poorly resolved phylogenetic relationships of a number of extinct species. Among those, based on fragmentary cranial material from the late early to middle Miocene of Antwerp (Belgium, North Sea basin), the small-sized Thalassocetus antwerpiensis Abel, 1905 has been recognized for some time as the earliest branching kogiid. The discovery of a new diminutive physeteroid cranium from the late Miocene (Tortonian) of Antwerp leads to the description and comparison of a close relative of T. antwerpiensis . Thanks to the relatively young ontogenetic stage of this new specimen, the highly modified plate-like bones making the floor of its supracranial basin could be individually removed, a fact that greatly helped deciphering their identity and geometry. Close morphological similarities with T. antwerpiensis allow for the reassessment of several facial structures in the latter; the most important reinterpretation is the one of a crest-like structure, previously identified as a sagittal facial crest, typical for kogiids, and here revised as the left posterolateral wall of the supracranial basin, comprised of the left nasal (lost in kogiids for which the postnarial region is known) and the left maxilla. Implemented in a phylogenetic analysis, the new anatomical interpretations result in the new Belgian specimen and T. antwerpiensis being recovered as sister-groups in the family Physeteridae. Consequently, the geologically oldest kogiids are now dated from the Tortonian, further extending the ghost lineage separating these early late Miocene kogiid records from the estimated latest Oligocene to earliest Miocene divergence of kogiids and physeterids. Article in Journal/Newspaper Sperm whale Zenodo Comptes Rendus Palevol 39 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
Zenodo |
op_collection_id |
ftzenodo |
language |
English |
topic |
Cetacea Physeteridae Kogiidae Thalassocetus late Miocene North Sea |
spellingShingle |
Cetacea Physeteridae Kogiidae Thalassocetus late Miocene North Sea Apolline ALFSEN Mark BOSSELAERS Olivier LAMBERT New sperm whale remains from the late Miocene of the North Sea and a revised family attribution for the small crown physeteroid Thalassocetus Abel, 1905 |
topic_facet |
Cetacea Physeteridae Kogiidae Thalassocetus late Miocene North Sea |
description |
In spite of a continuously expanding physeteroid fossil record, our understanding of the origin and early radiation of the two modern sperm whale families Kogiidae Gill, 1871 (including the pygmy and dwarf sperm whales, Kogia spp.) and Physeteridae Gray, 1821 (including the great sperm whale, Physeter Linnaeus, 1758) remains limited, especially due to the poorly resolved phylogenetic relationships of a number of extinct species. Among those, based on fragmentary cranial material from the late early to middle Miocene of Antwerp (Belgium, North Sea basin), the small-sized Thalassocetus antwerpiensis Abel, 1905 has been recognized for some time as the earliest branching kogiid. The discovery of a new diminutive physeteroid cranium from the late Miocene (Tortonian) of Antwerp leads to the description and comparison of a close relative of T. antwerpiensis . Thanks to the relatively young ontogenetic stage of this new specimen, the highly modified plate-like bones making the floor of its supracranial basin could be individually removed, a fact that greatly helped deciphering their identity and geometry. Close morphological similarities with T. antwerpiensis allow for the reassessment of several facial structures in the latter; the most important reinterpretation is the one of a crest-like structure, previously identified as a sagittal facial crest, typical for kogiids, and here revised as the left posterolateral wall of the supracranial basin, comprised of the left nasal (lost in kogiids for which the postnarial region is known) and the left maxilla. Implemented in a phylogenetic analysis, the new anatomical interpretations result in the new Belgian specimen and T. antwerpiensis being recovered as sister-groups in the family Physeteridae. Consequently, the geologically oldest kogiids are now dated from the Tortonian, further extending the ghost lineage separating these early late Miocene kogiid records from the estimated latest Oligocene to earliest Miocene divergence of kogiids and physeterids. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Apolline ALFSEN Mark BOSSELAERS Olivier LAMBERT |
author_facet |
Apolline ALFSEN Mark BOSSELAERS Olivier LAMBERT |
author_sort |
Apolline ALFSEN |
title |
New sperm whale remains from the late Miocene of the North Sea and a revised family attribution for the small crown physeteroid Thalassocetus Abel, 1905 |
title_short |
New sperm whale remains from the late Miocene of the North Sea and a revised family attribution for the small crown physeteroid Thalassocetus Abel, 1905 |
title_full |
New sperm whale remains from the late Miocene of the North Sea and a revised family attribution for the small crown physeteroid Thalassocetus Abel, 1905 |
title_fullStr |
New sperm whale remains from the late Miocene of the North Sea and a revised family attribution for the small crown physeteroid Thalassocetus Abel, 1905 |
title_full_unstemmed |
New sperm whale remains from the late Miocene of the North Sea and a revised family attribution for the small crown physeteroid Thalassocetus Abel, 1905 |
title_sort |
new sperm whale remains from the late miocene of the north sea and a revised family attribution for the small crown physeteroid thalassocetus abel, 1905 |
publisher |
Zenodo |
publishDate |
2021 |
url |
https://doi.org/10.5852/cr-palevol2021v20a39 |
genre |
Sperm whale |
genre_facet |
Sperm whale |
op_source |
Comptes Rendus Palevol, 20(39), 807-822, (2021-10-11) |
op_relation |
https://doi.org/10.5852/cr-palevol2021v20a39 oai:zenodo.org:5596632 |
op_rights |
info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess Other (Not Open) |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.5852/cr-palevol2021v20a39 |
container_title |
Comptes Rendus Palevol |
container_issue |
39 |
_version_ |
1810481913094209536 |