1 This is the preprint version of the following article: Fordyce, R.E., and Marx, F.G. (2018). Gigantism 2 precedes filter feeding in baleen whale evolution. Curr Biol 28, 1670-1676.e1672, which has been 3 published in final form at https://www.cell.com/current-biology/fulltext/S0960-9822(18)30455- 4 X?_returnURL=https%3A%2F%2Flinkinghub.elsevier.com%2Fretrieve%2Fpii%2FS096098221830455X 5 %3Fshowall%3Dtrue 6 7 Gigantism precedes filter feeding in baleen whale evolution 8 R. Ewan Fordyce1,2 and Felix G. Marx3-5* 9 1Department of Geology, University of Otago, Dunedin, New Zealand 10 2Departments of Vertebrate Zoology and Paleobiology, National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution, 11 Washington DC, USA 12 5Directorate of Earth and History of Life, Royal Belgian Institute of Natural Sciences, Brussels, Belgium 13 3School of Biological Sciences, Monash University, Clayton, Victoria, Australia 14 4Geosciences, Museum Victoria, Melbourne, Australia 15 *E-mail:
[email protected] 16 17 SUMMARY 18 Baleen whales (Mysticeti) are the largest animals on Earth, thanks to their ability to filter feed vast 19 amounts of small prey from seawater. Whales appeared during the latest Eocene, but evidence of 20 their early evolution remains both sparse and controversial [1, 2], with several models competing 21 to explain the origin of baleen-based bulk feeding [3-6]. Here, we describe a virtually complete 22 skull of Llanocetus denticrenatus, the second-oldest (ca 34 Ma) mysticete known. The new 23 material represents the same individual as the type and only specimen, a fragmentary mandible. 24 Phylogenetic analysis groups Llanocetus with the oldest mysticete, Mystacodon selenensis [2], 25 into the basal family Llanocetidae.