| Balaenella | |
|---|---|
Scientific classification  | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Mammalia |
| Order: | Artiodactyla |
| Infraorder: | Cetacea |
| Family: | Balaenidae |
| Genus: | † Balaenella Bisconti, 2005 |
| Species | |
†B. brachyrhynchus Bisconti, 2005 (type) | |
Balaenella is an extinct genus of balaenid from the early Pliocene of the vicinity of Antwerp, Belgium. Its type species is Balaena brachyrhynchus.
A cladistic analysis of Balaenidae places Balaenella as the sister taxon of the bowhead whale in a clade separate from right whales. [1]
Baleen whales, also known as whalebone whales or mysticetes, form a parvorder of the infraorder Cetacea. They are a widely distributed and diverse parvorder of carnivorous marine mammals. Mysticeti comprise the families Balaenidae, Balaenopteridae, and Cetotheriidae. There are currently 16 species of baleen whales. While cetaceans were historically thought to have descended from mesonychids,, molecular evidence supports them as a clade of even-toed ungulates (Artiodactyla). Baleen whales split from toothed whales (Odontoceti) around 34 million years ago.
Balaenidae is a family of whales of the parvorder Mysticeti that contains two living genera: the right whales, and in a separate genus, the closely related bowhead whale.
Neobalaenidae is a family of baleen whales including the extant pygmy right whale. Although traditionally considered related to balaenids, a recent phylogenetic study by Fordyce and Marx (2013) recovered the living pygmy right whale as a member of Cetotheriidae, making it the only extant cetotheriid, but not all authors agree with this argument.
Balaenoptera, from Latin: balaena ('whale') and Ancient Greek: pteron ('fin'), is a genus of Balaenopteridae, and contains eight extant species. Balaenoptera comprises all but one of the extant species in its family.
Balaena is a genus of cetacean (whale) in the family Balaenidae. Balaena is considered a monotypic genus, as it has only a single extant species, the bowhead whale. It was named in 1758 by Linnaeus, who at the time considered all of the right whales as a single species. Historically, both the family Balaenidae and genus Balaena were known by the common name, "right whales", however Balaena are now known as bowhead whales.
Australodelphis mirus is an extinct Pliocene dolphin. A. mirus is known from fossils found in the Sørsdal Formation, Mule Peninsula, Vestfold Hills, East Antarctica. The genus has been described as an example of convergent evolution with beaked whales.
Livyatan is an extinct genus of macroraptorial sperm whale containing one species: L. melvillei. The genus name was inspired by the biblical sea monster Leviathan, and the species name by Herman Melville, the author of the famous novel Moby-Dick about a white bull sperm whale. It is mainly known from the Pisco Formation of Peru during the Tortonian stage of the Miocene epoch, about 9.9–8.9 million years ago (mya); however, isolated teeth from other locations such as Chile, Argentina, South Africa, and Australia implies that either it or a close relative survived into the Pliocene, around 5 mya, and was present throughout the Southern Hemisphere. It was a member of a group of hyper-predatory macroraptorial sperm whales and was likely an apex predator, preying on whales, seals, and so forth. Characteristic of raptorial sperm whales, Livyatan had functional, enamel-coated teeth on the upper and lower jaws, as well as several adaptations for hunting large prey.
Cetotheriidae is a family of baleen whales. 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.
Balaenula is an extinct genus of cetacean.
Scaldicetus is an extinct genus of highly predatory macroraptorial sperm whale. Although widely used for a number of extinct physeterids with primitive dental morphology consisting of enameled teeth, Scaldicetus as generally recognized appears to be a wastebasket taxon filled with more-or-less unrelated primitive sperm whales.
Balaenotus is an extinct genus of cetaceans from the Pliocene of Belgium.
Protororqualus is a genus of extinct rorqual from the late Pliocene of Mount Pulgnasco, Italy.
Plesiocetus is a genus of extinct balaenopterids found worldwide. It has had a chequered taxonomic history, having served as a wastebasket genus for a handful of mysticete species.
Peripolocetus is a genus of balaenid baleen whale from the middle Miocene of Kern County, California.
Idiocetus is a genus of extinct cetaceans of the family Balaenidae.
Isocetus is an extinct genus of baleen whale belonging to the clade Thalassotherii. Remains have been found in middle Miocene marine deposits in Belgium.
Morenocetus is an extinct genus of primitive balaenid from the Early Miocene Gaiman Formation of Patagonia, Argentina.
Beneziphius is an extinct genus of ziphiid cetacean known from late Miocene to Pliocene marine deposits in Belgium and fishing grounds off Spain. The genus name honors Pierre-Joseph van Beneden, who pioneered the study of Neogene marine mammals from Belgium.
Hoplocetus is an extinct genus of raptorial cetacean of the sperm whale superfamily, Physeteroidea. Its remains have been found in the Miocene of Belgium, France, Germany and Malta, the Pliocene of Belgium and France, and the Pleistocene of the United Kingdom and South Carolina.
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