Project 2655: O. Lambert, M. Martínez-Cáceres, G. Bianucci, C. Di Celma, R. Salas-Gismondi, E. Steurbaut, M. Urbina, C. de Muizon. 2017. Earliest mysticete from the late Eocene of Peru sheds new light on the origin of baleen whales. Current Biology. 27:1-7.
Abstract
Although combined molecular and morphological analyses point to a late middle Eocene (38–39 million years ago) origin for the clade Neoceti (Odontoceti, echolocating toothed whales plus Mysticeti, baleen whales, and relatives), the oldest known mysticete fossil dates from the latest Eocene (about 34 million years ago) of Antarctica [1, 2]. Considering that the latter is not the most stemward mysticete in recent phylogenies and that Oligocene toothed mysticetes display a broad morphological disparity most likely corresponding to contrasted ecological niches, the origin of mysticetes from a basilosaurid ancestor and its drivers are currently poorly understood [1, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8]. Based on an articulated cetacean skeleton from the early late Eocene (Priabonian, around 36.4 million years ago) of the Pisco Basin, Peru, we describe a new archaic tooth-bearing mysticete, Mystacodon selenensis gen. et sp. nov. Being the geologically oldest neocete (crown group cetacean) and the earliest mysticete to branch off described so far, the new taxon is interpreted as morphologically intermediate between basilosaurids and later toothed mysticetes, providing thus crucial information about the anatomy of the skull, forelimb, and innominate at these critical initial stages of mysticete evolution. Major changes in the morphology of the oral apparatus (including tooth wear) and flipper compared to basilosaurids suggest that suction and possibly benthic feeding represented key, early ecological traits accompanying the emergence of modern filter-feeding baleen whales’ ancestors.Read the article »
Article DOI: 10.1016/j.cub.2017.04.026
Project DOI: 10.7934/P2655, http://dx.doi.org/10.7934/P2655
This project contains | Matrices |
---|---|
Download Project SDD File | Total scored cells: 7623 Total media associated with cells: 0 Total labels associated with cell media: 0 |
Characters | |
Total characters: 272 Total characters with associated media: 0 Total characters with media with labels: 0 Total character states: 634 Total character states with associated media: 0 Total character states with media with labels:0 Total unordered/ordered characters:239/33 |
Currently Viewing:
MorphoBank Project 2655
MorphoBank Project 2655
- Creation Date:
07 April 2017 - Publication Date:
12 May 2017 - Project views: 21049
- Media downloads: 2
- Matrix downloads: 10
Authors' Institutions
- Muséum national d'Histoire naturelle, Paris (Natural History Museum, Paris)
- Museum of Natural History, Lima (Museo de Historia Natural), National University of San Marcos, Lima
- Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)
- Katholieke Universiteit Leuven
- Université Pierre et Marie Curie, UPMC, Paris VI (Pierre and Marie Curie University)
- Royal Belgian Institute of Natural Sciences
- Sorbonne Université
- University of Pisa
- Università di Camerino
Members
member name | taxa | specimens | media | chars | character
| cell scorings (scored, NPA, "-") | cell
| rules | ||||||||||||||
Olivier Lambert Project Administrator | 38 | 2 | 1 | 272 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 7623 (7176, 0, 447) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Taxonomic Overview for Matrix 'M24553' (38 Taxa)
taxon | unscored cells |
scored cells |
no cell support |
NPA cells |
"-" cells | cell images | labels on cell images |
member access |
[1] † Cynthiacetus peruvianus Last Modified in 05/12/17 | 23 | 245 | 245 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
[2] † Simocetus rayi Last Modified in 05/12/17 | 91 | 177 | 177 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
[3] † Archaeodelphis patrius Last Modified in 05/12/17 | 145 | 122 | 122 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
[4] Physeter macrocephalus Last Modified in 04/07/17 | 13 | 231 | 229 | 0 | 30 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
[5] † Mystacodon selenensis Last Modified in 05/12/17 | 132 | 138 | 138 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
[6] † Janjucetus hunderi Last Modified in 05/12/17 | 82 | 184 | 184 | 0 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
[7] † Mammalodon colliveri Last Modified in 05/12/17 | 91 | 174 | 174 | 0 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
[8] † Chonecetus goedertorum Last Modified in 05/12/17 | 73 | 196 | 195 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
[9] † Aetiocetus polydentatus Last Modified in 05/12/17 | 94 | 175 | 175 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
[10] † Aetiocetus cotylalveus Last Modified in 05/12/17 | 101 | 169 | 169 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
[11] † Aetiocetus weltoni Last Modified in 05/12/17 | 76 | 193 | 193 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
[12] † ChM pv4745 Last Modified in 05/12/17 | 128 | 140 | 140 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
[13] † Llanocetus denticrenatus Last Modified in 05/12/17 | 104 | 164 | 164 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
[14] † ChM pv5720 Last Modified in 05/12/17 | 90 | 179 | 179 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
[15] † Micromysticetus rothauseni Last Modified in 05/12/17 | 182 | 87 | 87 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
[16] † Yamatocetus canaliculatus Last Modified in 05/12/17 | 68 | 189 | 189 | 0 | 15 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
[17] † Eomysticetus whitmorei Last Modified in 05/12/17 | 78 | 178 | 178 | 0 | 16 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
[18] † Morenocetus parvus Last Modified in 05/12/17 | 154 | 114 | 114 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
[19] Balaena mysticetus Last Modified in 04/07/17 | 2 | 250 | 249 | 0 | 21 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
[20] Eubalaena spp. Last Modified in 04/07/17 | 0 | 255 | 250 | 0 | 22 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
[21] Caperea marginata Last Modified in 04/07/17 | 3 | 252 | 246 | 0 | 23 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
[22] † Miocaperea pulchra Last Modified in 05/12/17 | 110 | 143 | 143 | 0 | 19 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
[23] † Cetotherium rathkii Last Modified in 05/12/17 | 110 | 145 | 145 | 0 | 17 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
[24] † Cetotherium riabinini Last Modified in 05/12/17 | 71 | 186 | 186 | 0 | 15 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
[25] † Piscobalaena nana Last Modified in 05/12/17 | 14 | 240 | 239 | 0 | 19 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
[26] † Herpetocetus morrowi Last Modified in 05/12/17 | 39 | 215 | 215 | 0 | 18 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
[27] † Herpetocetus transatlanticus Last Modified in 05/12/17 | 147 | 117 | 117 | 0 | 8 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
[28] † Herpetocetus bramblei Last Modified in 05/12/17 | 112 | 143 | 143 | 0 | 17 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
[29] † Diorocetus hiatus Last Modified in 05/12/17 | 43 | 216 | 216 | 0 | 13 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
[30] † Aglaocetus patulus Last Modified in 05/12/17 | 70 | 190 | 188 | 0 | 14 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
[31] † Aglaocetus moreni Last Modified in 05/12/17 | 117 | 142 | 142 | 0 | 13 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
[32] † Parietobalaena campiniana Last Modified in 05/12/17 | 100 | 156 | 156 | 0 | 16 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
[33] † Parietobalaena palmeri Last Modified in 05/12/17 | 45 | 219 | 213 | 0 | 14 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
[34] † Pelocetus calvertensis Last Modified in 05/12/17 | 37 | 221 | 221 | 0 | 14 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
[35] Eschrichtius robustus Last Modified in 04/07/17 | 1 | 259 | 254 | 0 | 17 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
[36] † Megaptera novaeangliae Last Modified in 05/12/17 | 1 | 258 | 256 | 0 | 15 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
[37] Balaenoptera acutorostrata Last Modified in 04/07/17 | 0 | 256 | 255 | 0 | 17 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
[38] Balaenoptera physalus Last Modified in 04/07/17 | 0 | 258 | 256 | 0 | 16 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
Project views
type | number of views | Individual items viewed (where applicable) |
Total project views | 21049 | |
Media views | 3507 | Media search (2953 views); M451107 (554 views); |
Matrix views | 1422 | Matrix landing page (1255 views); character-data matrix (167 views); |
Project overview | 3051 | |
Taxon list | 8857 | |
Specimen list | 2290 | |
Views for media list | 1138 | |
Bibliography | 779 | |
Documents list | 5 |
Project downloads
type | number of downloads | Individual items downloaded (where applicable) |
Total downloads from project | 225 | |
Project downloads | 213 | |
Matrix downloads | 10 | character-data matrix (10 downloads); |
Media downloads | 2 | M451107 (2 downloads); |