Cetotheriidae

Cetotheriidae
Temporal range: Chattian–Recent
Cetotherium riabinini
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Mammalia
Order: Artiodactyla
Infraorder: Cetacea
Parvorder: Mysticeti
Family: Cetotheriidae
Brandt 1872
Subfamilies and genera

See text

Synonyms

Neobalaenidae? Miller, 1923

Cetotheriidae is a family of baleen whales (parvorder Mysticeti).[1] The family is known to have existed from the Late Oligocene to the Early Pleistocene before going extinct. Although some phylogenetic studies conducted by Fordyce & Marx 2013 recovered the living pygmy right whale as a member of Cetotheriidae, making the pygmy right whale the only living cetotheriid, other authors either dispute this placement or recover Neobalaenidae as a sister group to Cetotheriidae.

Taxonomy

After its description by Brant in 1872, Cetotheriidae was used as a wastebasket taxon for baleen whales which were not assignable to extant whale families.[2]

Comparing the cranial and mandibular morphology of 23 taxa (including late archaeocetes and both fossil and extant mysticetes),[3] Bouetel & Muizon 2006 found Cetotheriidae in this traditional sense to be polyphyletic. Based on ten cranial characters, they also concluded that of the twelve included fossil baleen-bearing mysticetes, six formed a monophyletic group, Cetotheriidae sensu stricto.[4]

Several phylogenetic studies since Bouetel & Muizon 2006 support the monophyly of a small group of core Cetotheriidae sensu stricto, archaic mysticetes with a cranium that have "a long ascending process of the maxilla with anteriorly diverging lateral border that interdigitates with the frontal" and some other characters.[5] This group is limited to Cetotherium rathkii, Metopocetus durinasus, Mixocetus elysius, Herpetocetus scaldiensis, H. transatlanticus, H. bramblei, Nannocetus eremus, and Piscobalaena nana.[6] The remaining genera placed in the family are considered Cetotheriidae sensu lato and are often referred to as the 'cetotheres'.[5]

Bisconti, Lambert & Bosselaers 2013 considered the primitive 'cetothere' Joumocetus the most basal named taxon of their new superfamily Thalassotherii (Cetotheriidae s.l., Cetotheriidae s.s., Eschrichtiidae (gray whales) and Balaenopteridae (rorquals)) and suggested that the term "Cetotheriidae s.l." should be renamed "basal" or "stem thalassotherians".[7] Fordyce & Marx 2013 found that the pygmy right whale formed a well-supported clade with Eschrichtiidae and Balaenopteridae based on molecular data, and that, within 'cetotheres', it was most closely related to the herpetocetines (Herpetocetus and Nannocetus)[8] Bisconti et al. 2013, however, found, based on morphological data, it to be more closely related to Balaenidae (the bowhead and right whales), but added that additional specimens are expected to resolve these conflicting results within a few years.[9]

Classification of Cetotheriidae according to El Adli et al. (2014)[10] and the Fossilworks online database:[1]

Incertae sedis:

References

Notes

  1. ^ a b "Cetotheriidae". Fossilworks. Retrieved 17 December 2021.
  2. ^ Steeman 2010
  3. ^ Bouetel & Muizon 2006, p. 373
  4. ^ Bouetel & Muizon 2006, Abstract
  5. ^ a b Bisconti, Lambert & Bosselaers 2013, p. 96
  6. ^ Bisconti, Lambert & Bosselaers 2013, p. 121
  7. ^ Bisconti, Lambert & Bosselaers 2013, p. 98
  8. ^ Fordyce & Marx 2013, p. 3
  9. ^ Fordyce & Marx 2013, pp. 122–123
  10. ^ El Adli, Joseph J.; Deméré, Thomas A.; Boessenecker, Robert W. (2014). "Herpetocetus morrowi (Cetacea: Mysticeti), a new species of diminutive baleen whale from the Upper Pliocene (Piacenzian) of California, USA, with observations on the evolution and relationships of the Cetotheriidae". Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society. 170 (2): 400–466. doi:10.1111/zoj.12108. hdl:2027.42/102629.
  11. ^ a b c d e f g h i Gol'din, Startsev & Krakhmalnaya 2013, pp. 4–5
  12. ^ Gol'din, Pavel; Startsev, Dmitry (2014). "Brandtocetus, a new genus of baleen whales (Cetacea, Cetotheriidae) from the late Miocene of Crimea, Ukraine". Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology. 34 (2): 419–433. Bibcode:2014JVPal..34..419G. doi:10.1080/02724634.2013.799482. S2CID 84535132.
  13. ^ a b c d e Bouetel & Muizon 2006, p. 376
  14. ^ Gol'din, P (2018). "New Paratethyan dwarf baleen whales mark the origin of cetotheres". PeerJ. 6: e5800. doi:10.7717/peerj.5800. PMC 6193469. PMID 30356949.
  15. ^ Gol'din, Pavel; Startsev, Dmitry (2017). "A systematic review of cetothere baleen whales (Cetacea, Cetotheriidae) from the Late Miocene of Crimea and Caucasus, with a new genus". Papers in Palaeontology. 3: 49–68. doi:10.1002/spp2.1066. S2CID 88690543.
  16. ^ Tarasenko, K. K. (2014). "New Genera of Baleen Whales (Cetacea, Mammalia) from the Miocene of the Northern Caucasus and Ciscaucasia: 3. Zygiocetus gen. nov. (Middle Sarmatian, Adygea)". Paleontological Journal. 48 (5): 551–562. doi:10.1134/S0031030114050116. S2CID 84342193.
  17. ^ Bisconti, Michelangelo (2015). "Anatomy of a new cetotheriid genus and species from the Miocene of Herentals, Belgium, and the phylogenetic and palaeobiogeographical relationships of Cetotheriidae s.s. (Mammalia, Cetacea, Mysticeti)". Journal of Systematic Palaeontology. 13 (5): 377–395. doi:10.1080/14772019.2014.890136. S2CID 84554891.
  18. ^ Felix G. Marx; Klaas Post; Mark Bosselaers; Dirk K. Munsterman (2019). "A large Late Miocene cetotheriid (Cetacea, Mysticeti) from the Netherlands clarifies the status of Tranatocetidae". PeerJ. 7: e6426. doi:10.7717/peerj.6426. PMC 6377596. PMID 30783574.

Sources