Archaebalaenoptera

Archaebalaenoptera
Temporal range: Pliocene
↓
Skull
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Mammalia
Order: Artiodactyla
Infraorder: Cetacea
Family: Balaenopteridae
Genus: †Archaebalaenoptera
Bisconti, 2007
Species

A. castriarquati (type)
Bisconti, 2007

Archaebalaenoptera is a genus of extinct rorqual from the Pliocene (Piacenzian) of northern Italy. Its type species is A. castriarquati.[1]

Classification

Archaebalaenoptera was discovered in 1983 from the sediments of the Lower Pliocene Castell’Arquato Formation in northern Italy. A cladistic analysis of Balaenopteridae recovered Archaebalaenoptera as the most primitive rorqual.[1]

Paleobiology

The primitive morphology of the jaw suggests that Archaebalaenoptera probably was not capable of ram feeding like living rorquals and humpback whales.[1]

References

  1. 1 2 3 M. Bisconti. 2007. A new basal balaenopterid whale from the Pliocene of northern Italy. Palaeontology 50(5):1103-1122
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