DOCSLIB.ORG

Systematics and Phylogeny of the Fossil Beaked Whales Ziphirostrum Du Bus, 1868 and Choneziphius Duvernoy, 1851 (Mammalia, Cetac

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
Systematics and Phylogeny of the Fossil Beaked Whales Ziphirostrum Du Bus, 1868 and Choneziphius Duvernoy, 1851 (Mammalia, Cetac Systematics and phylogeny of the fossil beaked whales Ziphirostrum du Bus, 1868 and Choneziphius Duvernoy, 1851 (Mammalia, Cetacea, Odontoceti), from the Neogene of Antwerp (North of Belgium) Olivier LAMBERT Institut royal des Sciences naturelles de Belgique, Département de Paléontologie, rue Vautier, 29, B-1000 Brussels (Belgium) [email protected] Lambert O. 2005. — Systematics and phylogeny of the fossil beaked whales Ziphirostrum du Bus, 1868 and Choneziphius Duvernoy, 1851 (Mammalia, Cetacea, Odontoceti), from the Neogene of Antwerp (North of Belgium). Geodiversitas 27 (3) : 443-497. ABSTRACT A systematic revision of the fossil beaked whales (Cetacea, Odontoceti, Ziphiidae) Ziphirostrum du Bus, 1868 and Choneziphius Duvernoy, 1851 from the Neogene of Antwerp (Belgium, southern margin of the North Sea Basin) is undertaken. It is based on several rostra and partial skulls from the collection of the Institut royal des Sciences naturelles de Belgique. From the previous conclusions about those taxa, dating from the beginning of the 20th century and suggesting only one species in each genus, Mioziphius ( Ziphirostrum) belgicus and Choneziphius planirostris, the following modifica- tions are proposed. The genus Ziphirostrum includes three species: Z. mar- ginatum, Z. turniense, and Z. recurvus n. comb. Basicranial fragments and teeth of Z. marginatum are described for the first time. Besides the most com- mon species Choneziphius planirostris, the species C. macrops is identified from Antwerp and the east coast of North America. A new genus and species KEY WORDS Mammalia, Beneziphius brevirostris n. gen., n. sp. is described on the basis of two specimens Cetacea, characterized by a short and pointed rostrum. Two partial skulls are placed in Odontoceti, Ziphiidae aff. Eboroziphius, a genus known from the east coast of North Ziphiidae, Ziphirostrum, America. The genus name Aporotus is restored, with a large species A. recurvi- Choneziphius, rostris, and a smaller species A. dicyrtus. A parsimony analysis including fossil Miocene, Pliocene, and extant ziphiid taxa shows a sister-group relationship between Belgium, Choneziphius + ( Tusciziphius + Ziphius) and Ziphirostrum + Beneziphius fossil, n. gen. The poorly known Aporotus seems more closely related to Chone- phylogeny, new genus, ziphius + ( Tusciziphius + Ziphius), but additional morphological information new species. is needed. GEODIVERSITAS • 2005 • 27 (3) © Publications Scientifiques du Muséum national d’Histoire naturelle, Paris. www.geodiversitas.com 443 Lambert O. RÉSUMÉ Systématique et phylogénie des baleines à bec fossiles Ziphirostrum du Bus, 1868 et Choneziphius Duvernoy, 1851 (Mammalia, Cetacea, Odontoceti) du Néogène d’Anvers (nord de la Belgique). La révision des baleines à bec fossiles (Cetacea, Odontoceti, Ziphiidae) Ziphirostrum du Bus, 1868 et Choneziphius Duvernoy, 1851 du Néogène d’Anvers (Belgique, bord sud du Bassin de la mer du Nord) est basée sur une série de rostres et de crânes partiels de la collection de l’Institut royal des Sciences naturelles de Belgique. À partir des conclusions systématiques pré- cédentes, datant du début du XXe siècle et suggérant une seule espèce dans chaque genre, Mioziphius ( Ziphirostrum) belgicus et Choneziphius planirostris, les modifications suivantes sont proposées. Le genre Ziphirostrum inclut trois espèces : Z. marginatum, Z. turniense et Z. recurvus n. comb. Des fragments du basicrâne et des dents de Z. marginatum sont décrits pour la première fois. À côté de l’espèce la plus commune Choneziphius planirostris, C. macrops est identifié à Anvers et sur la côte est de l’Amérique du Nord. Le nouveau genre et espèce Beneziphius brevirostris n. gen., n. sp. est décrit sur MOTS CLÉS Mammalia, la base de deux spécimens caractérisés par un rostre court et pointu. Deux Cetacea, crânes partiels sont considérés comme Ziphiidae aff. Eboroziphius, un genre Odontoceti, connu de la côte est de l’Amérique du Nord. Le nom de genre Aporotus est Ziphiidae, Ziphirostrum, rétabli, incluant une grande espèce, A. recurvirostris, et une plus petite, Choneziphius, A. dicyrtus. Une analyse de parcimonie incluant des genres fossiles et actuels Miocène, Pliocène, de ziphiidés montre un lien de groupes-frères entre Choneziphius + Belgique, ( Tusciziphius + Ziphius) et Ziphirostrum + Beneziphius n. gen. Le genre fossile, moins bien connu Aporotus semble plus proche de Choneziphius + phylogénie, nouveau genre, ( Tusciziphius + Ziphius), mais des informations morphologiques complé- nouvelle espèce. mentaires seraient nécessaires. INTRODUCTION The first species described from Antwerp by Cuvier (1823) were Choneziphius planirostris and The extant beaked whales (family Ziphiidae), Mesoplodon longirostris. The original skulls were including 21 species in six genera, considered for found between 1809 and 1812 during the exca- at least a part of them as deep-diving feeders, are vation of docks (Van Beneden 1864), and are among the least known of all mammalian groups now preserved at the Muséum national (Wilson 1992); some of the species are only d’Histoire naturelle, in Paris. known by several specimens. Well preserved Most ziphiids were discovered in the second part fossil ziphiids are also rare. The Neogene of of the 19th century, during the building of fortifi- Antwerp (North of Belgium, southern part of the cations around Antwerp. In 1860, Van Beneden North Sea Basin) is probably the richest location reported a head of “Cétacé ziphioïde”, which he where diagnostic specimens of ziphiids have been named Dioplodon d’Hemixem. This skull, with the discovered, with several genera based on species posterior part detached but preserved, was proba- from the sequence. bly lost before 1900 (Abel 1905). In 1864, Van 444 GEODIVERSITAS • 2005 • 27 (3) The Neogene ziphiids Ziphirostrum and Choneziphius (Cetacea, Odontoceti) Beneden changed the genus name Dioplodon in A BBREVIATIONS Ziphirostre, again without descriptions or identifi- ED Specimen given by E. Delheid to the IRSNB; cation number. In his work of 1868, du Bus used IRSNB Institut royal des Sciences naturelles de the genus name Ziphirostrum for five poorly de- Belgique, Brussels; scribed species of ziphiids, without reference to MCollection of types and figured specimens the species named by Van Beneden. However, of fossil mammals from the IRSNB; MGPD Museo di Geologia e Paleontologia several labels of skulls, written by du Bus in the dell’Università di Padova; 1860s, bear the name “ Ziphirostrum hemixemii, MNHN Muséum national d’Histoire naturelle, Van Ben.” (Abel 1905). Du Bus (1868) also creat- Paris; ed several new ziphiid genera: Aporotus with three MP Museo di Storia Naturale e del Territorio Certoso di Calci dell’Università di Pisa; species, Ziphiopsis with two species, and NMB Natuurhistorisch Museum Boekenberg, Rhinostodes with one species. Further, he named a Antwerp; new species in Belemnoziphius Huxley, 1864. USNM United States National Museum of Natural Several of these taxa were subsequently briefly dis- History, Washington DC; ZMA Zoölogisch Museum of Amsterdam. cussed in Owen (1870). Later, Abel (1905) reduced the many nominal species of Ziphirostrum, Aporotus, and Ziphiopsis, in a manner quite similar to his work on eurhino- MATERIAL AND METHODS delphinids, to one species in one genus, Mio- ziphius belgicus (except a skull of Ziphiopsis S PECIMENS. — Most of the specimens described or re- described in this work are from the collection of the phymatodes, placed in Choneziphius planirostris). IRSNB. Some of them have never been figured and Abel considered the range of variation briefly de- did not belong to the collection of types and figured scribed by du Bus (1868) to be intraspecific onto- specimens. Some of them were exhibited in the genetic variation. He further included in Museum of the IRSNB in the past, but most were not available for study since the time of Abel (around Mioziphius belgicus the fragmentary mandibles of 1905). The lists of numbered specimens given by Abel Synostodon sensu du Bus (in Vanden Broeck 1874: (1905: 104, 109 and 116) were used to identify the 147), totaling 49 partial skulls and mandibles for specimens described by du Bus (1868) for which the one species, Mioziphius belgicus. Mioziphius is a labels were lost or not readable. junior synonym of Ziphirostrum (e.g., Muizon T ERMINOLOGY. — The main anatomical terms desig- 1984, 1991; Bianucci et al. 1992; McKenna & nating the different bony and soft parts of the ziphiid head are taken from the review of Heyning (1989a). Bell 1998; Fordyce & Muizon 2001). On the basis of a fragment of mandibular symph- D ESCRIPTION OF THE MEASUREMENTS. — See Figure 1 ysis lacking teeth, du Bus (1872) proposed the and Tables 1-6. species Champsodelphis scaldensis, identified as a ziphiid by Abel (1905), who named it Palaeo- ziphius scaldensis. Abel (1905) also placed another SYSTEMATICS fragment of symphysis in Cetorhynchus atavus. Those species, based on isolated mandibles, will Order CETACEA Brisson, 1762 not be discussed here. Suborder ODONTOCETI Flower, 1867 The subject of this paper is a systematic revision of the numerous specimens of Ziphirostrum and Family ZIPHIIDAE Gray, 1865 Choneziphius from the collections of the IRSNB, addressing the opinions of du Bus (1868) and T YPE GENUS.—Ziphius Cuvier, 1823. Abel (1905) on that subject. This part is followed by a discussion of the phylogenetic relationships I NCLUDED GENERA. — The extant genera Berardius Duvernoy, 1851, Hyperoodon Lacépède, 1804, of the revised
Load more

Recommended publications
  • Download Full Article in PDF Format
    A new marine vertebrate assemblage from the Late Neogene Purisima Formation in Central California, part II: Pinnipeds and Cetaceans Robert W. BOESSENECKER Department of Geology, University of Otago, 360 Leith Walk, P.O. Box 56, Dunedin, 9054 (New Zealand) and Department of Earth Sciences, Montana State University 200 Traphagen Hall, Bozeman, MT, 59715 (USA) and University of California Museum of Paleontology 1101 Valley Life Sciences Building, Berkeley, CA, 94720 (USA) [email protected] Boessenecker R. W. 2013. — A new marine vertebrate assemblage from the Late Neogene Purisima Formation in Central California, part II: Pinnipeds and Cetaceans. Geodiversitas 35 (4): 815-940. http://dx.doi.org/g2013n4a5 ABSTRACT e newly discovered Upper Miocene to Upper Pliocene San Gregorio assem- blage of the Purisima Formation in Central California has yielded a diverse collection of 34 marine vertebrate taxa, including eight sharks, two bony fish, three marine birds (described in a previous study), and 21 marine mammals. Pinnipeds include the walrus Dusignathus sp., cf. D. seftoni, the fur seal Cal- lorhinus sp., cf. C. gilmorei, and indeterminate otariid bones. Baleen whales include dwarf mysticetes (Herpetocetus bramblei Whitmore & Barnes, 2008, Herpetocetus sp.), two right whales (cf. Eubalaena sp. 1, cf. Eubalaena sp. 2), at least three balaenopterids (“Balaenoptera” cortesi “var.” portisi Sacco, 1890, cf. Balaenoptera, Balaenopteridae gen. et sp. indet.) and a new species of rorqual (Balaenoptera bertae n. sp.) that exhibits a number of derived features that place it within the genus Balaenoptera. is new species of Balaenoptera is relatively small (estimated 61 cm bizygomatic width) and exhibits a comparatively nar- row vertex, an obliquely (but precipitously) sloping frontal adjacent to vertex, anteriorly directed and short zygomatic processes, and squamosal creases.
    [Show full text]
  • Anatomical Description and Phylogenetic Analysis of Miocene
    Southern Methodist University SMU Scholar Collection of Engaged Learning Engaged Learning 4-15-2013 Anatomical description and phylogenetic analysis of Miocene beaked whale from the East African Rift Valley, Kenya Andrew Lin Southern Methodist University, [email protected] Follow this and additional works at: https://scholar.smu.edu/upjournal_research Part of the Earth Sciences Commons Recommended Citation Lin, Andrew, "Anatomical description and phylogenetic analysis of Miocene beaked whale from the East African Rift alV ley, Kenya" (2013). Collection of Engaged Learning. 10. https://scholar.smu.edu/upjournal_research/10 This document is brought to you for free and open access by the Engaged Learning at SMU Scholar. It has been accepted for inclusion in Collection of Engaged Learning by an authorized administrator of SMU Scholar. For more information, please visit http://digitalrepository.smu.edu. 1 Anatomical description and phylogenetic analysis of Miocene beaked whale from the East African Rift Valley, Kenya by Andrew Lin Undergraduate Senior Thesis Huffington Department of Earth Sciences Southern Methodist University Dallas, TX 75275 Abstract This study compares the anatomy of a Miocene whale fossil found in Kenya to that of modern and other fossil beaked whales in order to identify it using phylogenetic analysis. The specimen is a partial skull and lacks diagnostic features present in the posterior regions of the skull, but a parsimony analysis based on available characters determined the whale is likely linked to modern Mesoplodon and Hyperoodon. Identification of this specimen is necessary for biogeographical purposes and other investigations using the fossil as a marker for the paleocoastline. Furthermore, this whale is an important and unique tool that can be used to study the development of the East African Rift.
    [Show full text]
  • Beaked Whale Mysteries Revealed by Seafloor Fossils Trawled Off South Africa
    View metadata, citation and similar papers at core.ac.uk brought to you by CORE provided by Open Marine Archive 140 South African Journal of Science 104, March/April 2008 Research Letters Beaked whale mysteries revealed by seafloor fossils trawled off South Africa a b Giovanni Bianucci *, Klaas Post and c Olivier Lambert An unexpectedly large number of well-preserved fossil ziphiid (beaked whale) skulls trawled from the seafloor off South Africa significantly increases our knowledge of this cetacean family. The Fig. 1. Map of the South African coast showing localities where ziphiid skulls were eight new genera and ten new species more than double the known trawled by fishing and research vessels. diversity of fossil beaked whales and represent more than one-third of this family (fossil and extant). A cladistic parsimony analysis based on 18 cranial characters suggested that some of these fossil taxa belong to the three extant ziphiid subfamilies, whereas others might represent extinct ziphiid lineages. Such high fossil ziphiid diversity might be linked to the upwelling system and the resulting high productivity of the Benguela Current, which has been in place and influenced conditions of the shallower waters along the south- west coast of South Africa and Namibia since the Middle Miocene. Both fossil and extant South African beaked whale faunas show a wide range in body size, which is probably related to different dietary niches and to wide exploration of the water column. More- over, most South African fossil ziphiids share two morphological traits with extant species, which indicates that some of the behaviours associated with these traits had likely already developed during the Neogene: 1) the absence of functional maxillary teeth—providing clear evidence of suction feeding; and 2) the heavy ossification of the rostrum in specimens assumed to represent adult males—a feature which likely helps prevent injury and damage on impact during male–male fighting.
    [Show full text]
  • Caviziphius Altirostris, a New Beaked Whale from the Miocene Southern North Sea Basin
    Giovanni Bianucci 1 & Klaas Post 2 1 Università di Pisa 2 Natuurhistorisch Museum Rotterdam Caviziphius altirostris, a new beaked whale from the Miocene southern North Sea basin Bianucci, G. & Post, K., 2005 - Caviziphius altirostris, a new beaked whale from the Miocene southern North Sea basin - DEINSEA 11: 1-6 [ISSN 0923-9308]. Published 29 December 2005 An odontocete cranium from Miocene deposits in northern Belgium is examined and referred to Caviziphius altirostris, a new genus and species of beaked whale. In the general architecture of its vertex and closed mesorostral canal, Caviziphius resembles the fossil genera Ziphirostrum and Choneziphius, but differs from all known ziphiids by a very deep excavated prenarial basin with a semicircular outline in lateral view. This peculiar cranial architecture of Caviziphius might indicate an advanced and efficient mechanism of sound production in this fossil ziphiid. Keywords: Cetacea, Ziphiidae, Miocene, North Sea, new taxon Correspondence: G. Bianucci, Dipartimento di Scienze della Terra, Università di Pisa, Via S. Maria, 5356126 Pisa, Italy; e-mail: [email protected]. K. Post (to whom correspondence should be addressed), Natuurhistorisch Museum Rotterdam, P.O. Box 23452, 3001 KL Rotterdam, the Netherlands; e-mail: [email protected] INTRODUCTION cranium, here described and referred to a new Miocene and Pliocene marine deposits from genus and species. the southern North Sea Basin are a very impor- The anatomical terminology utilized follows tant source of fossil cetaceans (odontocetes and Heyning (1989) and measurements were made mysticetes). Most specimens originate from the according the methods used by Moore (1963). Antwerp area in Belgium, but important fossils have also been collected from the Netherlands SYSTEMATIC PALEONTOLOGY and the North Sea.
    [Show full text]
  • Agraulos Longicephalus and Proampyx? Depressus (Trilobita) from the Middle Cambrian of Bornholm, Denmark
    Content, vol. 63 63 · 2015 Bulletin of the Geological Society Denmark · Volume Thomas Weidner & Arne Thorshøj Nielsen: Agraulos longicephalus and Proampyx? depressus (Trilobita) from the Middle Cambrian of Bornholm, Denmark ................ 1 Jens Morten Hansen: Finally, all Steno’s scientific papers translated from Latin into English. Book review of: Kardel. T. & Maquet, P. (eds) 2013: Nicolaus Steno. Biography and Original Papers of a 17th Century Scientist. Springer-Verlag, Berlin, Heidelberg, 739 pp ..................................................................................... 13 Lars B. Clemmensen, Aslaug C. Glad, Kristian W. T. Hansen & Andrew S. Murray: Episodes of aeolian sand movement on a large spit system (Skagen Odde, Denmark) and North Atlantic storminess during the Little Ice Age ....................... 17 Mette Olivarius, Henrik Friis, Thomas F. Kokfelt & J. Richard Wilson: Proterozoic basement and Palaeozoic sediments in the Ringkøbing–Fyn High characterized by zircon U–Pb ages and heavy minerals from Danish onshore wells ........................................................................................................ 29 Richard Pokorný, Lukáš Krmíček & Uni E. Árting: The first evidence of trace fossils and pseudo-fossils in the continental interlava volcaniclastic sediments on the Faroe Islands .............................................................................................. 45 Thomas Weidner, Gerd Geyer, Jan Ove R. Ebbestad & Volker von Seckendorff: Glacial erratic boulders from Jutland, Denmark,
    [Show full text]
  • The Upper Miocene Deurne Member of the Diest
    GEOLOGICA BELGICA (2020) 23/3-4: 219-252 The upper Miocene Deurne Member of the Diest Formation revisited: unexpected results from the study of a large temporary outcrop near Antwerp International Airport, Belgium Stijn GOOLAERTS1,*, Jef DE CEUSTER2, Frederik H. MOLLEN3, Bert GIJSEN3, Mark BOSSELAERS1, Olivier LAMBERT1, Alfred UCHMAN4, Michiel VAN HERCK5, Rieko ADRIAENS6, Rik HOUTHUYS7, Stephen LOUWYE8, Yaana BRUNEEL5, Jan ELSEN5 & Kristiaan HOEDEMAKERS1 1 OD Earth & History of Life, Scientific Heritage Service and OD Natural Environment, Royal Belgian Institute of Natural Sciences, Belgium; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]. 2 Veldstraat 42, 2160 Wommelgem, Belgium; [email protected]. 3 Elasmobranch Research Belgium, Rehaegenstraat 4, 2820 Bonheiden, Belgium; [email protected]; [email protected]. 4 Faculty of Geography and Geology, Institute of Geological Sciences, Jagiellonian University, Gronostajowa 3a, 30-387 Kraków, Poland; [email protected]. 5 Department of Earth & Environmental Sciences, KU Leuven, Belgium; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]. 6 Q Mineral, Heverlee, Belgium; [email protected]. 7 Independent consultant, Halle, Belgium; [email protected]. 8 Department of Geology, Campus Sterre, S8, Krijgslaan 281, 9000 Gent, Belgium; [email protected]. * corresponding author. ABSTRACT. A 5.50 m thick interval of fossiliferous intensely bioturbated
    [Show full text]
  • Crown Beaked Whale Fossils from the Chepotsunai Formation (Latest Miocene) of Tomamae Town, Hokkaido, Japan
    Palaeontologia Electronica palaeo-electronica.org Crown beaked whale fossils from the Chepotsunai Formation (latest Miocene) of Tomamae Town, Hokkaido, Japan Yoshihiro Tanaka, Mahito Watanabe, and Masaichi Kimura ABSTRACT In the last decades, our knowledge of ziphiid evolution has increased dramatically. However, their periotic morphology is still poorly known. A fossil ziphiid (TTM-1) includ- ing the periotic, bulla, isolated polydont teeth and vertebrae from the Chepotsunai For- mation (latest Miocene) of Tomamae Town, Hokkaido, Japan, is identified as a member of a clade with crown ziphiids of Bianucci et al. (2016) by having three periotic synapo- morphies; a posteriorly wide posterior process, transversely thick anterior process, and laterally elongated lateral process. The specimen adds morphological information of the periotic. Among the Ziphiidae from the stem to crown, the periotic morphologies were changed to having a more robust anterior process, wider anterior bullar facet and posterior process. The crown Ziphiidae shares a feature; enlarged medial tubercle on the anterior process. Among the crown Ziphiidae, TTM-1 does not have a swollen medial tubercle not like Tasmacetus, Nazcacetus and others. This new morphological information might represent useful future phylogenetic comparisons. Yoshihiro Tanaka. Osaka Museum of Natural History, Nagai Park 1-23, Higashi-Sumiyoshi-ku, Osaka, 546- 0034, Japan. [email protected] Hokkaido University Museum, Kita 10, Nishi 8, Kita-ku, Sapporo, Hokkaido 060-0810 Japan, Numata Fossil Museum, 2-7-49, Minami 1, Numata town, Hokkaido 078-2225 Japan Mahito Watanabe. AIST, Geological Survey of Japan, Research Institute for Geology and Geoinformation, Central 7, 1-1-1 Higashi, Tsukuba, Ibaraki, 305-8567 Japan.
    [Show full text]
  • New Discoveries of Fossil Toothed Whales from Peru: Our Changing Perspective of Beaked Whale and Sperm Whale Evolution
    Quad. Mus. St. Nat. Livorno, 23: 13-27 (2011) DOI code: 10.4457/musmed.2010.23.13 13 New discoveries of fossil toothed whales from Peru: our changing perspective of beaked whale and sperm whale evolution OLIVIER LAMBERT1 SUMMARY: Following the preliminary description of a first fossil odontocete (toothed whale) from the Miocene of the Pisco Formation, southern coast of Peru, in 1944, many new taxa from Miocene and Pliocene levels of this formation were described during the 80’s and 90’s, (families Kentriodontidae, Odobenocetopsidae, Phocoenidae, and Pontoporiidae). Only one Pliocene Ziphiidae (beaked whale) and one late Miocene Kogiidae (dwarf sperm whale) were defined. Modern beaked whales and sperm whales (Physeteroidea = Kogiidae + Physeteridae) share several ecological features: most are predominantly teuthophagous, suction feeders, and deep divers. They further display a highly modified cranial and mandibular morphology, including tooth reduction in both groups, high vertex and sexually dimorphic mandibular tusks in ziphiids, and development of a vast supracranial basin in physeteroids. New discoveries from the Miocene of the Pisco Formation enrich the fossil record of ziphiids and physeteroids and shed light on various aspects of their evolution. From Cerro Colorado, a new species of the ziphiid Messapicetus lead to the description of features previously unknown in fossil members of the family: association of complete upper and lower tooth series with tusks, hypothetical sexual dimorphism in the development of the tusks, skull anatomy of a calf... A new small ziphiid from Cerro los Quesos, Nazcacetus urbinai, is characterized by the reduction of the dentition: a pair of apical mandibular tusks associated to vestigial postapical teeth, likely hold in the gum.
    [Show full text]
  • Rostral Densification in Beaked Whales: Diverse Processes for A
    C. R. Palevol 10 (2011) 453–468 Contents lists available at ScienceDirect Comptes Rendus Palevol www.sciencedirect.com General palaeontology, systematics and evolution (Vertebrate palaeontology) Rostral densification in beaked whales: Diverse processes for a similar pattern La densification du rostre des baleines à bec : des processus variés pour un résultat similaire Olivier Lambert a,∗,b, Vivian de Buffrénil a, Christian de Muizon a a Département histoire de la terre, Muséum national d’histoire naturelle, UMR 7207 (paléobiodiversité et paléoenvironnements), (MNHN, CNRS, UPMC), CP 38, 57, rue Cuvier, 75005 Paris, France b Département de paléontologie, institut royal des sciences naturelles de Belgique, Bruxelles, Belgium article info abstract Article history: As compared to other odontocetes (toothed whales), the rostrum of beaked whales (family Received 24 September 2010 Ziphiidae) often displays extensive changes in the shape, thickness, and density of its con- Accepted after revision 21 March 2011 stituent bones. Previous morphological observations suggested that these modifications Available online 31 May 2011 appeared in parallel in different ziphiid lineages. However, very few data were available on the compactness and histology of these rostral bones, which precluded the study of the pro- Written on invitation of the Editorial Board. cesses at work for the development of such structures, as well as the interpretation of their functional implications. In this work we review the bibliographic data on the anatomy of the Keywords: ziphiid rostrum and we add new observations on adults of several extinct and extant taxa. Odontoceti Ziphiidae These observations are based on CT scans and transverse histological sections. Our results Beaked whales confirm that different bones (vomer, mesethmoid, premaxilla, maxilla) are involved in the Pachyostosis various morphologies displayed by ziphiid rostra.
    [Show full text]
  • Abstracts 1995-2003
    PALAEONTOGRAPHIA ITALICA ABSTRACTS VOL. LXXXII (1995) ISABELLA PREMOLI SILVA, WILLIAM V. SLITER - Cretaceous planktonic foraminiferal biostratigraphy and evolutionary trends from the Bottaccione section, Gubbio, Italy KEY WORDS: Planktonic foraminifers, Gubbio, Late Cretaceous, Biostratigraphy, Magnetostratigraphy, Chronostratigraphy, Evolutionary patterns. ABSTRACT - A detailed Cretaceous planktonic foraminiferal biostratigraphy is defined for limestone of the Scaglia Group exposed in Bottaccione Gorge near Gubbio, Italy. This refined biostratigraphy allows recalibration of biozone boundaries with the previously measured paleomagnetic stratigraphy, the determination of local sedimentation rates, and the broader rate of evolutionary change for planktonic foraminifers at this classic Tethyan setting. The approximately 350 m thick section begins in the upper Albian part of the Scisti a Fucoidi and extends through the Scaglia Bianca and Scaglia Rossa to the Cretaceous/Paleocene boundary. The detailed distribution of 147 species of planktonic foraminifers examined in thin section from over 480 samples defines 19 zones and 4 subzones that represent about 40 m.y. of apparently continuous pelagic sedimentation. The major difference from previously reported studies concerns a 25-m increase of the total thickness of the interval investigated and subsequent position of zonal boundaries from within the D. asymetrica Zone to the top of the Cretaceous. Overall accumulation rates for the Bottaccione sequence are 3.44 m per m.y. in the Albian portion of the Scisti a Fucoidi and lower Scaglia Bianca and 9.3 m per m.y. for the Upper Cretaceous Scaglia Group. Low rates calculated for the Maastrichtian interval may be related to the incompleteness of the uppermost Cretaceous section, whereas increased rates in the Cenomanian apparently were produced by a local pulse of sedimentation in the Umbria-Marche Basin.
    [Show full text]
  • A 17-My-Old Whale Constrains Onset of Uplift and Climate Change in East Africa
    A 17-My-old whale constrains onset of uplift and climate change in east Africa Henry Wichuraa,1, Louis L. Jacobsb, Andrew Linb, Michael J. Polcynb, Fredrick K. Manthic, Dale A. Winklerb, Manfred R. Streckera, and Matthew Clemensb aInstitute of Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of Potsdam, 14476 Potsdam, Germany; bRoy M. Huffington Department of Earth Sciences, Southern Methodist University, Dallas, TX 75275; and cDepartment of Earth Sciences, National Museums of Kenya, 00100 Nairobi, Kenya Edited by Thure E. Cerling, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, UT, and approved February 24, 2015 (received for review November 10, 2014) Timing and magnitude of surface uplift are key to understanding with modern Indopacetus, Hyperoodon,andMesoplodon plus the impact of crustal deformation and topographic growth on four extinct genera. atmospheric circulation, environmental conditions, and surface Beaked whales are predicted by molecular clocks to have processes. Uplift of the East African Plateau is linked to mantle originated 26.52–35.82 Ma (6). The early record of fossil ziphiids processes, but paleoaltimetry data are too scarce to constrain is poor, but at 17.1 ± 1.0 Ma, the Kenyan specimen is currently plateau evolution and subsequent vertical motions associated the most precisely dated ziphiid fossil. Phylogenetic analysis nests with rifting. Here, we assess the paleotopographic implications the Turkana ziphiid with three modern genera, most notably Meso- of a beaked whale fossil (Ziphiidae) from the Turkana region of plodon, which has species that are estimated to have diverged at Kenya found 740 km inland from the present-day coastline of the 16.6 Ma (6, 7).
    [Show full text]
  • Reports and Proceedings
    42 Reports and Proceedings. Journal. Mr. Churchill suggests that the formation of Dolomite may be going on in coral reefs at the present day ; for the speci- mens of coral rock brought home by Dana from the raised island of Matea, or Aurora, were found to contain in one case 5 per cent., and in another as much as 38 per cent., of carbonate of magnesia. And if we suppose the Dolomite mountains of Carinthia to have been formed on a gradually subsiding basis, they may have grown up like the low islands of the Pacific, till the sea attained the depth of a thousand fathoms, preserving their original contour from first to last, the groups of corals, like a forest of tree-trunks without tops, rising upwards together, and becoming partially solid by lateral growth, or by filling up with sediment. We have no fossil coral-reef in England wherewith to compare the Dolomite Mountains. Our Magnesian limestone affords only Bryozoa, for it has not been suspected that the remarkably concentric and radiated concretions are metamorphosed corals. In our Silurian coral-reef of the Wenlock Edge and Dudley there may be masses of branching coral a yard across, and convex StromatoporcB (which are not corals) of nearly equal size. But the coral-beds are separated by clay partings, and never attain a great thickness. The Devon- shire marbles have much the appearance of coral-reefs, so far as respects the scattering of small masses over a region of argillaceous schists. In the Carboniferous Limestone layer above layer of branch- ing corals may be seen in the lofty cliffs of Cheddar and the weather- beaten shores of Lough Erne.
    [Show full text]