Eomysticetus
Temporal range: Chattian
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Mammalia
Order: Artiodactyla
Infraorder: Cetacea
Family: †Eomysticetidae
Genus: †Eomysticetus
Sanders and Barnes, 2002
Species

†E. carolinensis Sanders and Barnes, 2002
†E. whitmorei Sanders and Barnes, 2002 (type)

Eomysticetus is an extinct genus of baleen whale from the late Oligocene (Chattian) Chandler Bridge Formation of South Carolina.[1]

Taxonomy

Eomysticetus is a member of the family Eomysticetidae, which also includes Micromysticetus, Tohoraata, Tokarahia, and Yamatocetus.[2] There are two species of Eomysticetus, E. whitmorei and E. carolinensis, both from the Chandler Bridge Formation of South Carolina.[1]

Physical characteristics

The skull was around 1.5 metres (4.9 ft) in length.[3] Like more evolved baleen whales, its jaws had baleen instead of teeth, meaning that it could filter plankton with its baleen plates.[4][5][6][7] However, primitive baleen whales may have retained enamel coated teeth embedded in the gums, similar to modern sperm whales.[8] Baleen whales, as a group, may be sensitive to low-frequency sounds.[9]

Unlike modern baleen whales, Eomysticetus had a blowhole that was positioned ahead of the eyes, and the characteristics of its vertebrae and flipper bones are akin to those of archaeocetes like Basilosaurus.[4]

References

  1. 1 2 Sanders, A. E.; Barnes, L. G. (2002). "Paleontology of the Late Oligocene Ashley and Chandler Bridge Formations of South Carolina, 3: Eomysticetidae, a new family of primitive mysticetes (Mammalia: Cetacea)". In Emry, R. J. (ed.). Cenozoic Mammals of Land and Sea: Tributes to the Career of Clayton E. Ray. Vol. 93. pp. 313–356. hdl:10088/22502. {{cite book}}: |journal= ignored (help) (148Mb)
  2. ↑ Boessenecker, Robert W. "Dissertation research on archaic fossil baleen whales (Eomysticetidae) from the Oligocene of New Zealand". Retrieved 12 October 2014.
  3. ↑ Berta, A.; Deméré, T. A. (2009). "Mysticetes, Evolution". Encyclopedia of Marine Mammals. pp. 751–752. doi:10.1016/B978-0-12-373553-9.00175-9. ISBN 9780123735539.
  4. 1 2 "Eomysticetus whitmorei". NYIT College of Osteopathic Medicine. Retrieved 12 October 2014.
  5. ↑ Y. Okazaki. 2012. A new mysticete form the upper Oligocene Ashiya Group, Kyushu, Japan and its significance to mysticete evolution. Bulletin of the Kitakyushu Museum of Natural History and Human History Series A (Natural History) 10:129-152
  6. ↑ Boessenecker, R. W., Fordyce, R. E. (2014), A new Eomysticetid (Mammalia: Cetacea) from the Late Oligocene of New Zealand and a re-evaluation of ‘Mauicetus’ waitakiensis. Papers in Palaeontology. doi: 10.1002/spp2.1005
  7. ↑ Robert W. Boessenecker and R. Ewan Fordyce (2015). "A new genus and species of eomysticetid (Cetacea: Mysticeti) and a reinterpretation of ‘Mauicetus’ lophocephalus Marples, 1956: Transitional baleen whales from the upper Oligocene of New Zealand". Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society. in press. doi:10.1111/zoj.12297.
  8. ↑ Meredith, R. W.; Gatesy, J.; Cheng, J.; Springer, M. S. (2011). "Pseudogenization of the tooth gene enamelysin (MMP20) in the common ancestor of extant baleen whales". Proceedings of the Royal Society B. 278 (1708): 993–1002. doi:10.1098/rspb.2010.1280. JSTOR 41148721. PMC 3049022. PMID 20861053.
  9. ↑ Ekdale, E. G. (2016). "Morphological variation among the inner ears of extinct and extant baleen whales (Cetacea: Mysticeti)". Journal of Morphology. 277 (12): 1599–1615. doi:10.1002/jmor.20610. PMID 27627739. S2CID 24764616.
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