Miobalaenoptera

Miobalaenoptera is an extinct genus of rorqual from the Late Miocene (Messinian) of Japan.

Miobalaenoptera
Temporal range: Messinian
~6.8–6.5 Ma
↓
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Mammalia
Order: Artiodactyla
Infraorder: Cetacea
Family: Balaenopteridae
Genus: †Miobalaenoptera
Tanaka and Watanabe, 2019
Species
  • M. numataensis Tanaka and Watanabe, 2019 (type)

Description

Miobalaenoptera is distinguished from other rorquals (both extinct and extant) in the features of the earbone (incl. periotic) as well strongly diverging basioccipital crests[1]

The holotype specimen was found in marine deposits in Numata town, Hokkaido, Japan. It was initially assigned to Balaenoptera cf. acutorostrata by Shinohara (2012) and thought to be Pliocene in age, but analysis of diatoms in the matrix and preparation showed it to not only late Miocene but also a distinct species of extinct rorqual.[2][3][4]

References
  1. Yoshihiro Tanaka & Mahito Watanabe (2019): An early and new member of Balaenopteridae from the upper Miocene of Hokkaido, Japan. Journal of Systematic Palaeontology DOI: 10.1080/14772019.2018.1532968
  2. Yamashita, S. 1989. Fossils from Numata Town. Kyoudo to Kagaku 100–101, 17–21.
  3. Shinohara, S. 2007. A list of fossil cetaceans in Numata. Annual Report of Numata Fossil Museum 6, 15–23.
  4. Shinohara, S. 2012. A fossil whale (Balaenoptera sp.) from the early Pliocene in Numata, Hokkaido, Japan. Annual Report of Numata Fossil Museum, 12, 19–22.
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