ORCID Profile
0000-0002-1029-4001
Current Organisation
Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa
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Research Topics
In Research Link Australia (RLA), "Research Topics" refer to ANZSRC FOR and SEO codes. These topics are either sourced from ANZSRC FOR and SEO codes listed in researchers' related grants or generated by a large language model (LLM) based on their publications.
Top 5 Research Topics
ANZSRC Field of Research (FoR)
Palaeontology (incl. Palynology) | Phylogeny and Comparative Analysis | Animal Structure and Function | Geology
ANZSRC Socio-Economic Objective (SEO)
Expanding Knowledge in the Earth Sciences | Expanding Knowledge in the Biological Sciences | Marine Flora, Fauna and Biodiversity |
Related Links
Publications
Assessing the quality of the fossil record: insights from vertebrates
Publisher: Geological Society of London
Date: 2011
DOI: 10.1144/SP358.6
A behavioural framework for the evolution of feeding in predatory aquatic mammals
Publisher: The Royal Society
Date: 03-2017
Abstract: Extant aquatic mammals are a key component of aquatic ecosystems. Their morphology, ecological role and behaviour are, to a large extent, shaped by their feeding ecology. Nevertheless, the nature of this crucial aspect of their biology is often oversimplified and, consequently, misinterpreted. Here, we introduce a new framework that categorizes the feeding cycle of predatory aquatic mammals into four distinct functional stages (prey capture, manipulation and processing, water removal and swallowing), and details the feeding behaviours that can be employed at each stage. Based on this comprehensive scheme, we propose that the feeding strategies of living aquatic mammals form an evolutionary sequence that recalls the land-to-water transition of their ancestors. Our new conception helps to explain and predict the origin of particular feeding styles, such as baleen-assisted filter feeding in whales and raptorial ‘pierce’ feeding in pinnipeds, and informs the structure of present and past ecosystems.
A Link No Longer Missing: New Evidence for the Cetotheriid Affinities of Caperea
Publisher: Public Library of Science (PLoS)
Date: 06-10-2016
Percussive underwater signaling in wild gray seals
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 31-01-2020
DOI: 10.1111/MMS.12666
Vertebrate Palaeoecology of the Pisco Formation (Miocene, Peru): Glimpses into the Ancient Humboldt Current Ecosystem
Publisher: MDPI AG
Date: 27-10-2021
DOI: 10.3390/JMSE9111188
Abstract: The northward-flowing Humboldt Current hosts perpetually high levels of productivity along the western coast of South America. Here, we aim to elucidate the deep-time history of this globally important ecosystem based on a detailed palaeoecological analysis of the exceptionally preserved middle–upper Miocene vertebrate assemblages of the Pisco Formation of the East Pisco Basin, southern Peru. We summarise observations on hundreds of fossil whales, dolphins, seals, seabirds, turtles, crocodiles, sharks, rays, and bony fishes to reconstruct ecological relationships in the wake of the Middle Miocene Climatic Optimum, and the marked cooling that followed it. The lowermost, middle Miocene Pisco sequence (P0) and its vertebrate assemblage testify to a warm, semi-enclosed, near-shore palaeoenvironment. During the first part of the Tortonian (P1), high productivity within a prominent upwelling system supported a erse assemblage of mesopredators, at least some of which permanently resided in the Pisco embayment and used it as a nursery or breeding/calving area. Younger portions of the Pisco Formation (P2) reveal a more open setting, with wide-ranging species like rorquals increasingly dominating the vertebrate assemblage, but also local differences reflecting distance from the coast. Like today, these ancient precursors of the modern Humboldt Current Ecosystem were based on sardines, but notably differed from their present-day equivalent in being dominated by extremely large-bodied apex predators like Livyatan melvillei and Carcharocles megalodon.
Hypersalinity drives convergent bone mass increases in Miocene marine mammals from the Paratethys
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 2022
DOI: 10.1016/J.CUB.2021.10.065
Abstract: Pachyosteosclerosis-a condition that creates dense, bulky bones-often characterizes the early evolution of secondarily aquatic tetrapods like whales and dolphins
Gigantism precedes filter feeding in baleen whale evolution
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 05-2018
DOI: 10.1016/J.CUB.2018.04.027
Abstract: Baleen whales (Mysticeti) are the largest animals on Earth, thanks to their ability to filter huge volumes of small prey from seawater. Mysticetes appeared during the Late Eocene, but evidence of their early evolution remains both sparse and controversial [1, 2], with several models competing to explain the origin of baleen-based bulk feeding [3-6]. Here, we describe a virtually complete skull of Llanocetus denticrenatus, the second-oldest (ca. 34 Ma) mysticete known. The new material represents the same in idual as the type and only specimen, a fragmentary mandible. Phylogenetic analysis groups Llanocetus with the oldest mysticete, Mystacodon selenensis [2], into the basal family Llanocetidae. Llanocetus is gigantic (body length ∼8 m) compared to other early mysticetes [7-9]. The broad rostrum has sharp, widely spaced teeth with marked dental abrasion and attrition, suggesting biting and occlusal shearing. As in extant mysticetes, the palate bears many sulci, commonly interpreted as osteological correlates of baleen [3]. Unexpectedly, these sulci converge on the upper alveoli, suggesting a peri-dental blood supply to well-developed gums, rather than to inter-alveolar racks of baleen. We interpret Llanocetus as a raptorial or suction feeder, revealing that whales evolved gigantism well before the emergence of filter feeding. Rather than driving the origin of mysticetes, baleen and filtering most likely only arose after an initial phase of suction-assisted raptorial feeding [2, 4, 5]. This scenario differs strikingly from that proposed for odontocetes, whose defining adaptation-echolocation-was present even in their earliest representatives [10].
Climate, Critters, and Cetaceans: Cenozoic Drivers of the Evolution of Modern Whales
Publisher: American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS)
Date: 19-02-2010
Abstract: Whales are the largest animals today, and many feed on the abundant plankton, particularly diatoms, in the oceans. Whales arose and ersified in the Cenozoic, about 30 to 40 million years ago (see the Perspective by Cavin ). Marx and Uhen (p. 993 ) show that their ersity parallels the ersity of diatoms and changes in ocean temperature. Whether there were large predators of plankton before whales has been enigmatic, because the fossil record during the Mesozoic (245 to 65 million years ago) is sparse. Friedman et al. (p. 990 ) now show that a group of large fish filled this role for nearly 100 million years in the Mesozoic. Although not as large as whales, these globally distributed fish were still several meters long. Their extinction at the Cretaceous-Paleogene boundary 65.5 million years ago may have cleared the seas for the evolution of whales.
Reply to comment by Kienle et al . 2017
Publisher: The Royal Society
Date: 27-09-2017
How whales used to filter: exceptionally preserved baleen in a Miocene cetotheriid
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 24-05-2017
DOI: 10.1111/JOA.12622
Suction causes novel tooth wear in marine mammals, with implications for feeding evolution in baleen whales
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 23-01-2023
First monk seal from the Southern Hemisphere rewrites the evolutionary history of true seals
Publisher: The Royal Society
Date: 11-11-2020
Abstract: Living true seals (phocids) are the most widely dispersed semi-aquatic marine mammals, and comprise geographically separate northern (phocine) and southern (monachine) groups. Both are thought to have evolved in the North Atlantic, with only two monachine lineages—elephant seals and lobodontins—subsequently crossing the equator. The third and most basal monachine tribe, the monk seals, have hitherto been interpreted as exclusively northern and (sub)tropical throughout their entire history. Here, we describe a new species of extinct monk seal from the Pliocene of New Zealand, the first of its kind from the Southern Hemisphere, based on one of the best-preserved and richest s les of seal fossils worldwide. This unanticipated discovery reveals that all three monachine tribes once coexisted south of the equator, and forces a profound revision of their evolutionary history: rather than primarily ersifying in the North Atlantic, monachines largely evolved in the Southern Hemisphere, and from this southern cradle later reinvaded the north. Our results suggest that true seals crossed the equator over eight times in their history. Overall, they more than double the age of the north–south dichotomy characterizing living true seals and confirms a surprisingly recent major change in southern phocid ersity.
The cochlea of the enigmatic pygmy right whale Caperea marginata informs mysticete phylogeny
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 23-03-2017
DOI: 10.1002/JMOR.20674
Abstract: The pygmy right whale, Caperea marginata, is the least understood extant baleen whale (Cetacea, Mysticeti). Knowledge on its basic anatomy, ecology, and fossil record is limited, even though its singular position outside both balaenids (right whales) and balaenopteroids (rorquals + grey whales) gives Caperea a pivotal role in mysticete evolution. Recent investigations of the cetacean cochlea have provided new insights into sensory capabilities and phylogeny. Here, we extend this advance to Caperea by describing, for the first time, the inner ear of this enigmatic species. The cochlea is large and appears to be sensitive to low-frequency sounds, but its hearing limit is relatively high. The presence of a well-developed tympanal recess links Caperea with cetotheriids and balaenopteroids, rather than balaenids, contrary to the traditional morphological view of a close Caperea-balaenid relationship. Nevertheless, a broader s le of the cetotheriid Herpetocetus demonstrates that the presence of a tympanal recess can be variable at the specific and possibly even the intraspecific level.
True seals achieved global distribution by breaking Bergmann's rule.
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 26-04-2022
DOI: 10.1111/EVO.14488
Abstract: True seals (phocids) have achieved a global distribution by crossing the equator multiple times in their evolutionary history. This is remarkable, as warm tropical waters are regarded as a barrier to marine mammal dispersal and-following Bergmann's rule-may have limited crossings to small-bodied species only. Here, we show that ancestral phocids were medium sized and did not obviously follow Bergmann's rule. Instead, they ranged across a broad spectrum of environmental temperatures, without undergoing shifts in temperature- or size-related evolutionary rates following dispersals across the equator. We conclude that the tropics have not constrained phocid biogeography.
New cetacean fossils from the late Cenozoic of South Africa
Publisher: Frontiers Media SA
Date: 12-01-2023
DOI: 10.3389/FEART.2022.1058104
Abstract: Marine sediments from the western coast of southern Africa record the origin of the Benguela Upwelling System, one of the most productive in the world. High productivity, in turn, is reflected in a erse marine mammal fossil assemblage, comprising whales, dolphins and a phocid seal. Here, we describe new records of baleen whale (mysticete) fossils from the early Pliocene localities of Saldanha Steel, Milnerton and Langebaanweg, as well as several potentially younger specimens trawled from offshore sediments. The presence of the extinct rorquals Diunatans and Fragilicetus suggests biogeographical links with the eastern North Atlantic and, thus, potentially antitropical population structuring. The trawled specimens also include rorquals (e.g., the blue whale, Balaenoptera cf. musculus ), as well as a right whale ( Eubalaena ) and a pygmy right whale ( Caperea ). The latter is the first fossil of this family every discovered in Africa, and only the seventh specimen to be reported worldwide.
Convergent evolution of skim feeding in baleen whales
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 06-07-2023
DOI: 10.1111/MMS.13047
Biotically constrained palaeoenvironmental conditions of a mid-Holocene intertidal lagoon on the southern shore of the Arabian Gulf: evidence associated with a whale skeleton at Musaffah, Abu Dhabi, U
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 12-2011
Speciation in the deep: Genomics and morphology reveal a new species of beaked whale Mesoplodon eueu
Publisher: The Royal Society
Date: 27-10-2021
Abstract: The deep sea has been described as the last major ecological frontier, as much of its bio ersity is yet to be discovered and described. Beaked whales (ziphiids) are among the most visible inhabitants of the deep sea, due to their large size and worldwide distribution, and their taxonomic ersity and much about their natural history remain poorly understood. We combine genomic and morphometric analyses to reveal a new Southern Hemisphere ziphiid species, Ramari's beaked whale, Mesoplodon eueu , whose name is linked to the Indigenous peoples of the lands from which the species holotype and paratypes were recovered. Mitogenome and ddRAD-derived phylogenies demonstrate reciprocally monophyletic ergence between M. eueu and True's beaked whale ( M. mirus ) from the North Atlantic, with which it was previously subsumed. Morphometric analyses of skulls also distinguish the two species. A time-calibrated mitogenome phylogeny and analysis of two nuclear genomes indicate ergence began circa 2 million years ago (Ma), with geneflow ceasing 0.35–0.55 Ma. This is an ex le of how deep sea bio ersity can be unravelled through increasing international collaboration and genome sequencing of archival specimens. Our consultation and involvement with Indigenous peoples offers a model for broadening the cultural scope of the scientific naming process.
Convergence and constraint in the cranial evolution of mosasaurid reptiles and early cetaceans
Publisher: Cambridge University Press (CUP)
Date: 22-08-2022
DOI: 10.1017/PAB.2022.27
Abstract: The repeated return of tetrapods to aquatic life provides some of the best-known ex les of convergent evolution. One comparison that has received relatively little focus is that of mosasaurids (a group of Late Cretaceous squamates) and archaic cetaceans (the ancestors of modern whales and dolphins), both of which show high levels of craniodental disparity, similar initial trends in locomotory evolution, and global distributions. Here we investigate convergence in skull ecomorphology during the initial aquatic radiations of these groups. A series of functionally informative ratios were calculated from 38 species, with ordination techniques used to reconstruct patterns of functional ecomorphospace occupation. The earliest fully aquatic members of each clade occupied different regions of ecomorphospace, with basilosaurids and early russellosaurines exhibiting marked differences in cranial functional morphology. Subsequent ecomorphological trajectories notably erge: mosasaurids radiated across ecomorphospace with no clear pattern and numerous reversals, whereas cetaceans notably evolved toward shallower, more elongated snouts, perhaps as an adaptation for capturing smaller prey. Incomplete convergence between the two groups is present among megapredatory and longirostrine forms, suggesting stronger selection on cranial function in these two ecomorphologies. Our study highlights both the similarities and ergences in craniodental evolutionary trajectories between archaic cetaceans and mosasaurids, with convergences transcending their deeply ergent phylogenetic affinities.
Response to Comment on “Climate, Critters, and Cetaceans: Cenozoic Drivers of the Evolution of Modern Whales”
Publisher: American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS)
Date: 08-10-2010
Abstract: Pyenson et al . raise concerns about the correlation we identified between diatom and cetacean ersity through time. Although the issues raised are of investigative interest, they do not invalidate our conclusions. We agree that localized studies combined with global data sets will further our understanding of the factors that have helped shape cetacean evolution.
Prey Capture and Processing in Fur Seals, Sea Lions and the Walrus
Publisher: Springer International Publishing
Date: 2021
Taphonomy of marine vertebrates of the Pisco Formation (Miocene, Peru): Insights into the origin of an outstanding Fossil-Lagerstätte
Publisher: Public Library of Science (PLoS)
Date: 15-07-2021
DOI: 10.1371/JOURNAL.PONE.0254395
Abstract: The Miocene Pisco Formation, broadly exposed in the Ica Desert of southern Peru, is among the most outstanding Cenozoic marine Fossil-Lagerstätten worldwide. It is renowned for its exceptional preservation and abundance of vertebrate fossils, including a rich assemblage of whales and dolphins (Cetacea). Here, we integrate taphonomic data on 890 marine vertebrate fossils, gathered through 16 different localities. Our observations range from the taxonomic distribution, articulation, completeness, disposition and orientation of skeletons, to the presence of bite marks, associations with shark teeth and macro-invertebrates, bone and soft tissue preservation, and the formation of attendant carbonate concretions and sedimentary structures. We propose that the exceptional preservation characterising many Pisco vertebrates, as well as their exceptionally high abundance, cannot be ascribed to a single cause like high sedimentation rates (as proposed in the past), but rather to the interplay of several favourable factors including: (i) low levels of dissolved oxygen at the seafloor (with the intervention of seasonal anoxic events) (ii) the early onset of mineralisation processes like apatite dissolution/recrystallisation and carbonate mineral precipitation (iii) rapid burial of carcasses in a soupy substrate and/or a novel mechanism involving scour-induced self-burial and (iv) original biological richness. Collectively, our observations provide a comprehensive overview of the taphonomic processes that shaped one of South America’s most important fossil deposits, and suggest a model for the formation of other marine vertebrate Fossil-Lagerstätten.
The pygmy right whale Caperea marginata : the last of the cetotheres
Publisher: The Royal Society
Date: 22-02-2013
Abstract: The pygmy right whale, Caperea marginata , is the most enigmatic of the living baleen whales (Mysticeti). Its highly disparate morphology and the virtual absence of a described fossil record have made it extremely difficult to place Caperea into a broader evolutionary context, and molecular and morphological studies have frequently contradicted each other as to the origins and phylogenetic relationships of the species. Our study of a wealth of material from New Zealand collections, representing a wide range of ontogenetic stages, has identified several new features previously unreported in Caperea , which suggest that the pygmy right whale may be the last survivor of the supposedly extinct family Cetotheriidae. This hypothesis is corroborated by both morphology-based and total evidence cladistic analyses, including 166 morphological characters and 23 taxa, representing all the living and extinct families of toothless baleen whales. Our results allow us to formally refer Caperea to Cetotheriidae, thus resurrecting the latter from extinction and helping to clarify the origins of a long-problematic living species.
The More the Merrier? A Large Cladistic Analysis of Mysticetes, and Comments on the Transition from Teeth to Baleen
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 25-09-2010
Pliocene fossils support a New Zealand origin for the smallest extant penguins
Publisher: Cambridge University Press (CUP)
Date: 05-2023
DOI: 10.1017/JPA.2023.30
Abstract: A late Pliocene (3.36–3.06 Ma) exposure of the Tangahoe Formation on the North Island of New Zealand preserves close fossil relatives of many extant seabird clades. Here, we report an extinct member of the little penguin ( Eudyptula Bonaparte, 1856) lineage from the Tangahoe Formation—the smallest extinct crown penguin yet known. Eudyptula wilsonae n. sp. is based on the nearly complete skulls of an adult and a fledged but immature in idual. Both skulls show more slender proportions than modern little penguins and precede genome-derived estimates for the ergence between Eudyptula minor minor Forster, 1781 (endemic to New Zealand) and Eudyptula m . novaehollandiae Stephens, 1826 (native to Australia and recently established in New Zealand). This raises the possibility that the fossil taxon represents a lineage directly ancestral to extant little penguins. Our results support a Zealandian origin for little penguins, with subsequent Pleistocene dispersal to Australia and a more recent Holocene range expansion of Eudyptula m . novaehollandiae back into New Zealand. UUID: 415f70a-e441-4920-85e0-75f6457577ea
A Miocene pygmy right whale fossil from Australia
Publisher: PeerJ
Date: 22-06-2018
DOI: 10.7717/PEERJ.5025
Abstract: Neobalaenines are an enigmatic group of baleen whales represented today by a single living species: the pygmy right whale, Caperea marginata , found only in the Southern Hemisphere. Molecular ergence estimates date the origin of pygmy right whales to 22–26 Ma, yet so far there are only three confirmed fossil occurrences. Here, we describe an isolated periotic from the latest Miocene of Victoria (Australia). The new fossil shows all the hallmarks of Caperea , making it the second-oldest described neobalaenine, and the oldest record of the genus. Overall, the new specimen resembles C. marginata in its external morphology and details of the cochlea, but is more archaic in it having a hypertrophied suprameatal area and a greater number of cochlear turns. The presence of Caperea in Australian waters during the Late Miocene matches the distribution of the living species, and supports a southern origin for pygmy right whales.
Distribution and paleoenvironmental framework of middle Miocene marine vertebrates along the western side of the lower Ica Valley (East Pisco Basin, Peru)
Publisher: Informa UK Limited
Date: 09-12-2020
Clawed forelimbs allow northern seals to eat like their ancient ancestors
Publisher: The Royal Society
Date: 04-2018
DOI: 10.1098/RSOS.172393
Abstract: Streamlined flippers are often considered the defining feature of seals and sea lions, whose very name ‘pinniped’ comes from the Latin pinna and pedis , meaning ‘fin-footed’. Yet not all pinniped limbs are alike. Whereas otariids (fur seals and sea lions) possess stiff streamlined forelimb flippers, phocine seals (northern true seals) have retained a webbed yet mobile paw bearing sharp claws. Here, we show that captive and wild phocines routinely use these claws to secure prey during processing, enabling seals to tear large fish by stretching them between their teeth and forelimbs. ‘Hold and tear’ processing relies on the primitive forelimb anatomy displayed by phocines, which is also found in the early fossil pinniped Enaliarctos . Phocine forelimb anatomy and behaviour therefore provide a glimpse into how the earliest seals likely fed, and indicate what behaviours may have assisted pinnipeds along their journey from terrestrial to aquatic feeding.
Northern pygmy right whales highlight Quaternary marine mammal interchange
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 10-2017
DOI: 10.1016/J.CUB.2017.08.056
Abstract: The pygmy right whale, Caperea marginata, is the most enigmatic living whale. Little is known about its ecology and behaviour, but unusual specialisations of visual pigments [1], mitochondrial tRNAs [2], and postcranial anatomy [3] suggest a lifestyle different from that of other extant whales. Geographically, Caperea represents the only major baleen whale lineage entirely restricted to the Southern Ocean. Caperea-like fossils, the oldest of which date to the Late Miocene, are exceedingly rare and likewise limited to the Southern Hemisphere [4], despite a more substantial history of fossil s ling north of the equator. Two new Pleistocene fossils now provide unexpected evidence of a brief and relatively recent period in geological history when Caperea occurred in the Northern Hemisphere (Figure 1A,B).
Enigmatic Humerus of an Archaic Oligocene—Miocene Neocete from Miyazaki Prefecture, Kyushu, Japan
Publisher: The Paleontological Society of Japan
Date: 07-2017
DOI: 10.2517/2016PR026
Allostratigraphy and paleontology of the lower Miocene Chilcatay Formation in the Zamaca area, East Pisco basin, southern Peru
Publisher: Informa UK Limited
Date: 05-05-2019
Correction to: First monk seal from the Southern Hemisphere rewrites the evolutionary history of true seals
Publisher: The Royal Society
Date: 08-09-2021
A new Miocene baleen whale from Peru deciphers the dawn of cetotheriids
Publisher: The Royal Society
Date: 09-2017
DOI: 10.1098/RSOS.170560
Abstract: Cetotheriidae are an iconic, nearly extinct family of baleen whales (Mysticeti) with a highly distinct cranial morphology. Their origins remain a mystery, with even the most archaic species showing a variety of characteristic features. Here, we describe a new species of archaic cetotheriid, Tiucetus rosae , from the Miocene of Peru. The new material represents the first mysticete from the poorly explored lowest portion of the highly fossiliferous Pisco Formation (allomember P0), and appears to form part of a more archaic assemblage than observed at the well-known localities of Cerro Colorado, Cerro los Quesos, Sud-Sacaco and Aguada de Lomas. Tiucetus resembles basal plicogulans (crown Mysticeti excluding right whales), such as Diorocetus and Parietobalaena , but shares with cetotheriids a distinct morphology of the auditory region, including the presence of an enlarged paroccipital concavity. The distinctive morphology of Tiucetus firmly places Cetotheriidae in the context of the poorly understood ‘cetotheres’ sensu lato , and helps to resolve basal relationships within crown Mysticeti.
Baleen boom and bust: a synthesis of mysticete phylogeny, diversity and disparity
Publisher: The Royal Society
Date: 04-2015
DOI: 10.1098/RSOS.140434
Abstract: A new, fully dated total-evidence phylogeny of baleen whales (Mysticeti) shows that evolutionary phases correlate strongly with Caenozoic modernization of the oceans and climates, implying a major role for bottom-up physical drivers. The phylogeny of 90 modern and dated fossil species suggests three major phases in baleen whale history: an early adaptive radiation (36–30 Ma), a shift towards bulk filter-feeding (30–23 Ma) and a climate-driven ersity loss around 3 Ma. Evolutionary rates and disparity were high following the origin of mysticetes around 38 Ma, coincident with global cooling, abrupt Southern Ocean eutrophication and the development of the Antarctic Circumpolar Current (ACC). Subsequently, evolutionary rates and disparity fell, becoming nearly constant after approximately 23 Ma as the ACC reached its full strength. By contrast, species ersity rose until 15 Ma and then remained stable, before dropping sharply with the onset of Northern Hemisphere glaciation. This decline coincided with the final establishment of modern mysticete gigantism and may be linked to glacially driven variability in the distribution of shallow habitats or an increased need for long-distance migration related to iron-mediated changes in glacial marine productivity.
A New Species of Large Duck (Aves: Anatidae) from the Miocene of New Zealand
Publisher: MDPI AG
Date: 09-03-2022
Abstract: We describe a new species of extinct duck, Miotadorna catrionae sp. nov. (Anatidae, Tadornini, Tadorninae), based on a right humerus from the Miocene lacustrine deposits of St Bathans, Otago, New Zealand. Principal component analysis reveals that the new taxon is distinguished by its large size and relative proportions. This is the eighth and largest species of duck described from the St Bathans fossil assemblage and further underscores the global importance of this site for understanding anatid evolution.
A large Late Miocene cetotheriid (Cetacea, Mysticeti) from the Netherlands clarifies the status of Tranatocetidae
Publisher: PeerJ
Date: 13-02-2019
DOI: 10.7717/PEERJ.6426
Abstract: Cetotheriidae are a group of small baleen whales (Mysticeti) that evolved alongside modern rorquals. They once enjoyed a nearly global distribution, but then largely went extinct during the Plio-Pleistocene. After languishing as a wastebasket taxon for more than a century, the concept of Cetotheriidae is now well established. Nevertheless, the clade remains notable for its variability, and its scope remains in flux. In particular, the recent referral of several traditional cetotheriids to a new and seemingly unrelated family, Tranatocetidae, has created major phylogenetic uncertainty. Here, we describe a new species of Tranatocetus , the type of Tranatocetidae, from the Late Miocene of the Netherlands. Tranatocetus maregermanicum sp. nov. clarifies several of the traits previously ascribed to this genus, and reveals distinctive auditory and mandibular morphologies suggesting cetotheriid affinities. This interpretation is supported by a large phylogenetic analysis, which mingles cetotheriids and tranatocetids within a unified clade. As a result, we suggest that both groups should be reintegrated into the single family Cetotheriidae.
A Late Miocene potential neobalaenine mandible from Argentina sheds light on the origins of the living pygmy right whale
Publisher: Polska Akademia Nauk Instytut Paleobiologii (Institute of Paleobiology, Polish Academy of Sciences)
Date: 2013
A new species ofMetopocetus(Cetacea, Mysticeti, Cetotheriidae) from the Late Miocene of the Netherlands
Publisher: PeerJ
Date: 28-01-2016
DOI: 10.7717/PEERJ.1572
Abstract: The family Cetotheriidae has played a major role in recent discussions of baleen whale phylogenetics. Within this group, the enigmatic, monotypic Metopocetus durinasus has been interpreted as transitional between herpetocetines and other members of the family, but so far has been restricted to a single, fragmentary cranium of uncertain provenance and age. Here, we expand the genus and shed new light on its phylogenetic affinities and functional morphology by describing Metopocetus hunteri sp. nov. from the Late Miocene of the Netherlands. Unlike the holotype of M. durinasus , the material described here is confidently dated and preserves both the tympanic bulla and additional details of the basicranium. M. hunteri closely resembles M. durinasus , differing primarily in its somewhat less distally expanded compound posterior process of the tympanoperiotic. Both species are characterised by the development of an unusually large fossa on the ventral surface of the paroccipital process, which extends anteriorly on to the compound posterior process and completely floors the facial sulcus. In life, this enlarged fossa may have housed the posterior sinus and/or the articulation of the stylohyal. Like other cetotheriids, Metopocetus also bears a well-developed, posteriorly-pointing dorsal infraorbital foramen near the base of the ascending process of the maxilla, the precise function of which remains unclear.
Gigantic mysticete predators roamed the Eocene Southern Ocean
Publisher: Cambridge University Press (CUP)
Date: 04-2019
DOI: 10.1017/S095410201800055X
Abstract: Modern baleen whales (Mysticeti), the largest animals on Earth, arose from small ancestors around 36.4 million years ago (Ma). True gigantism is thought to have arisen late in mysticete history, with species exceeding 10 m unknown prior to 8 Ma. This view is challenged by new fossils from Seymour Island (Isla Marambio), Antarctica, which suggest that enormous whales once roamed the Southern Ocean during the Late Eocene ( c . 34 Ma). The new material hints at an unknown species of the archaic mysticete Llanocetus with a total body length of up to 12 m. The latter is comparable to that of extant Omura's whales ( Balaenoptera omurai Wada et al . 2003), and suggests that gigantism has been a re-occurring feature of mysticetes since their very origin. Functional analysis including sharpness and dental wear implies an at least partly raptorial feeding strategy, starkly contrasting with the filtering habit of living whales. The new material markedly expands the size range of archaic mysticetes, and demonstrates that whales achieved considerable disparity shortly after their origin.
Diaphorocetus poucheti(Cetacea, Odontoceti, Physeteroidea) from Patagonia, Argentina: one of the earliest sperm whales
Publisher: Informa UK Limited
Date: 14-06-2019
Brain size evolution in whales and dolphins: new data from fossil mysticetes
Publisher: Oxford University Press (OUP)
Date: 10-05-2021
DOI: 10.1093/BIOLINNEAN/BLAB054
Abstract: Cetaceans (whales and dolphins) have some of the largest and most complex brains in the animal kingdom. When and why this trait evolved remains controversial, with proposed drivers ranging from echolocation to foraging complexity and high-level sociality. This uncertainty partially reflects a lack of data on extinct baleen whales (mysticetes), which has obscured deep-time patterns of brain size evolution in non-echolocating cetaceans. Building on new measurements from mysticete fossils, we show that the evolution of large brains preceded that of echolocation, and subsequently followed a complex trajectory involving several independent increases (e.g. in rorquals and oceanic dolphins) and decreases (e.g. in right whales and ‘river dolphins’). Echolocating whales show a greater tendency towards large brain size, thus reaffirming cognitive demands associated with sound processing as a plausible driver of cetacean encephalization. Nevertheless, our results suggest that other factors such as sociality were also important.
First eurhinodelphinid dolphin from the Paratethys reveals a new family of specialised echolocators
Publisher: Informa UK Limited
Date: 10-06-2022
Rise of the titans: baleen whales became giants earlier than thought
Publisher: The Royal Society
Date: 05-2019
Abstract: Baleen whales (Mysticeti) are major ecosystem engineers, thanks to their enormous size and bulk filter feeding strategy. Their signature gigantism is thought to be a relatively recent phenomenon, resulting from a Plio-Pleistocene mode shift in their body size evolution. Here, we report the largest whale fossil ever described: an Early Pleistocene (1.5–1.25 Ma) blue whale from Italy with an estimated body length of up to 26 m. Macroevolutionary modelling taking into account this specimen, as well as additional material from the Miocene of Peru, reveals that the proposed mode shift occurred either somewhat earlier, or perhaps not at all. Large-sized mysticetes comparable to most extant species have existed since at least the Late Miocene, suggesting a long-term impact on global marine ecosystems.
A new Early Oligocene toothed ‘baleen’ whale (Mysticeti: Aetiocetidae) from western North America: one of the oldest and the smallest
Publisher: The Royal Society
Date: 12-2015
DOI: 10.1098/RSOS.150476
Abstract: Archaic toothed mysticetes represent the evolutionary transition from raptorial to bulk filter feeding in baleen whales. Aetiocetids, in particular, preserve an intermediate morphological stage in which teeth functioned alongside a precursor of baleen, the hallmark of all modern mysticetes. To date, however, aetiocetids are almost exclusively Late Oligocene and coeval with both other toothed mysticetes and fully fledged filter feeders. By contrast, reports of cetaceans from the Early Oligocene remain rare, leaving the origins of aetiocetids, and thus of baleen, largely in the dark. Here, we report a new aetiocetid, Fucaia buelli , from the earliest Oligocene ( ca 33–31 Ma) of western North America. The new material narrows the temporal gap between aetiocetids and the oldest known mysticete, Llanocetus ( ca 34 Ma). The specimen preserves abundant morphological detail relating to the phylogenetically informative ear bones (otherwise poorly documented in this family), the hyoid apparatus and much of the (heterodont) dentition. Fucaia comprises some of the smallest known mysticetes, comparable in size with the smallest odontocetes. Based on their phylogenetic relationships and dental and mandibular morphology, including tooth wear patterns, we propose that aetiocetids were suction-assisted raptorial feeders and interpret this strategy as a crucial, intermediary step, enabling the transition from raptorial to filter feeding. Following this line of argument, a combination of raptorial and suction feeding would have been ancestral to all toothed mysticetes, and possibly even baleen whales as a whole.
Strontium Isotope Stratigraphy and the thermophilic fossil fauna from the middle Miocene of the East Pisco Basin (Peru)
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 2020
Inferring diet, feeding behaviour and causes of mortality from prey-induced injuries in a New Zealand fur seal
Publisher: Inter-Research Science Center
Date: 30-04-2020
DOI: 10.3354/DAO03473
Abstract: New Zealand fur seals Arctocephalus forsteri are the most abundant of the 4 otariid (eared seal) species distributed across Australasia. Analyses of stomach contents, scats and regurgitates suggest a diet dominated by bony fish and squid, with cartilaginous species (e.g. sharks and rays) either absent or underrepresented because of a lack of preservable hard parts. Here we report on a subadult specimen from south-eastern Australia, which was found ashore emaciated and with numerous puncture wounds across its lips, cheeks, throat and the inside of its oral cavity. Fish spines embedded in the carcass revealed that these injuries were inflicted by chimaeras and myliobatiform rays (stingrays and relatives), which matches reports on the diet of A. forsteri from New Zealand, but not South Australia. Shaking and tearing of prey at the surface may help to avoid ingestion of the venomous spines, perhaps contributing to their absence from scats and regurgitates. Nevertheless, the number and severity of the facial stab wounds, some of which led to local necrosis, likely affected the animal’s ability to feed, and may account for its death. Despite their detrimental effects, fish spine-related injuries are difficult to spot, and may be a common, albeit cryptic, type of trauma. We therefore recommend that stranded seals be systematically examined for this potentially life-threatening pathology.
Ancient whales did not filter feed with their teeth
Publisher: The Royal Society
Date: 08-2017
Abstract: The origin of baleen whales (Mysticeti), the largest animals on Earth, is closely tied to their signature filter-feeding strategy. Unlike their modern relatives, archaic whales possessed a well-developed, heterodont adult dentition. How these teeth were used, and what role their function and subsequent loss played in the emergence of filter feeding, is an enduring mystery. In particular, it has been suggested that elaborate tooth crowns may have enabled stem mysticetes to filter with their postcanine teeth in a manner analogous to living crabeater and leopard seals, thereby facilitating the transition to baleen-assisted filtering. Here we show that the teeth of archaic mysticetes are as sharp as those of terrestrial carnivorans, raptorial pinnipeds and archaeocetes, and thus were capable of capturing and processing prey. By contrast, the postcanine teeth of leopard and crabeater seals are markedly blunter, and clearly unsuited to raptorial feeding. Our results suggest that mysticetes never passed through a tooth-based filtration phase, and that the use of teeth and baleen in early whales was not functionally connected. Continued selection for tooth sharpness in archaic mysticetes is best explained by a feeding strategy that included both biting and suction, similar to that of most living pinnipeds and, probably, early toothed whales (Odontoceti).
Cetacea (Whales, Porpoises and Dolphins)
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 13-04-2022
Convergent evolution of forelimb-propelled swimming in seals
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 06-2021
DOI: 10.1016/J.CUB.2021.03.019
Abstract: Modern pinnipeds (true and eared seals) employ two radically different swimming styles, with true seals (phocids) propelling themselves primarily with their hindlimbs, whereas eared seals (otariids) rely on their wing-like foreflippers.
Testing for Convergent Evolution in Baleen Whale Cochleae
Publisher: Springer International Publishing
Date: 2023
Marine mammals through time: when less is more in studying palaeodiversity
Publisher: The Royal Society
Date: 18-11-2008
Abstract: The validity of biological explanations of patterns of palaeo ersity has been called into question owing to an apparent correlation of ersity with the amount of sedimentary rock preserved. However, this claim has largely been based on comprehensive estimates of global marine Phanerozoic ersity, thus raising the question of whether a similar bias applies to the records of smaller, well-defined taxonomic groups. Here, new data on European Caenozoic marine sedimentary rock outcrop area are presented and compared with European occurrences of three groups of marine mammals (cetaceans, pinnipedimorphs and sirenians). Limited evidence was found for a correlation of outcrop area with marine mammal palaeo ersity. In addition, similar patterns were identified in the cetacean and pinnipedimorph ersity data. This may point to the preservation of a genuine biological signal not overwhelmed by geological biases in the marine mammal ersity data, and opens the door to further analyses of both marine mammal evolution and geological bias in other small and well-defined groups of taxa.
Juvenile morphology: A clue to the origins of the most mysterious of mysticetes?
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 29-01-2013
DOI: 10.1007/S00114-013-1012-Y
Abstract: The origin of the pygmy right whale (Caperea marginata) has long been one of the most vexing conundrums of marine mammal evolution. The extremely disparate skeletal structure of Caperea and a patchy fossil record have left morphology and molecules at odds: whereas most morphological analyses ally Caperea with right whales (Balaenidae), most molecular studies instead suggest a close relationship with rorquals (Balaenopteridae) and grey whales (Eschrichtiidae). The morphological evidence supporting a Caperea-balaenid clade consists of several shared features of the skull and mandible, as traditionally observed in adult in iduals. Here, we show that at least two of these features, the ascending process of the maxilla and the coronoid process, arise from substantially different precursors early during ontogeny and therefore likely do not represent genuine synapomorphies. Both of these juvenile morphologies have adult counterparts in the fossil record, thus indicating that the ontogenetic variation in the living species may be a genuine reflection of differing ancestral states. This new evidence contradicts previous morphological hypotheses on the origins of Caperea and may help to reconcile morphological and molecular evidence.
Evolutionary diversification in the marine realm: a global case study with marine mammals
Publisher: California Digital Library (CDL)
Date: 21-09-2020
DOI: 10.21425/F5FBG45184
Lost in translation - a history of systematic confusion and comments on the type species of Squalodon and Patriocetus (Cetacea, Odontoceti)
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 22-10-2010
New Pliocene right whale from Belgium informs balaenid phylogeny and function
Publisher: Informa UK Limited
Date: 20-04-2020
Like phoenix from the ashes: how modern baleen whales arose from a fossil ‘dark age’
Publisher: Polska Akademia Nauk Instytut Paleobiologii (Institute of Paleobiology, Polish Academy of Sciences)
Date: 2019
Related Organisations
University Of Bristol
Location: United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland
Related Funding Activities
Discovery Early Career Researcher Award - Grant ID: DE190101052
Start Date: 07-2019
End Date: 12-2019
Amount: $372,959.00
Funder: Australian Research Council
View Funded Activity