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Eschrichtiidae
Eschrichtiidae or the gray whales is a family (taxonomy), family of baleen whale (Parvorder Mysticeti) with a single extant species, the gray whale (''Eschrichtius robustus''), as well as four described fossil genera: ''Archaeschrichtius'' (Miocene), ''Glaucobalaena'' and ''Eschrichtioides'' (Pliocene) from Italy, and ''Gricetoides'' from the Pliocene of North Carolina. Some phylogenetic studies have found this family to be invalid, with its members nesting inside of the clade Rorqual, Balaenopteridae. The names of the extant genus and the family honours Danish zoologist Daniel Eschricht. Taxonomy In his morphological analysis, found that eschrichtiids and Cetotheriidae (''Cetotherium'', ''Mixocetus'' and ''Metopocetus'') form a monophyletic sister group of Balaenopteridae. A specimen from the Late Pliocene of Northern Italy, named ''"Cetotherium" gastaldii'' by and renamed ''"Balaenoptera" gastaldii'' by , was identified as a basal eschrichtiid by who recombined it to ''Eschr ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Baleen Whales
Baleen whales (), also known as whalebone whales, are marine mammals of the order (biology), parvorder Mysticeti in the infraorder Cetacea (whales, dolphins and porpoises), which use baleen plates (or "whalebone") in their mouths to sieve plankton from the water. Mysticeti comprises the family (biology), families Balaenidae (right whale, right and Bowhead whale, bowhead whales), Balaenopteridae (rorquals), Eschrichtiidae (the gray whale) and Cetotheriidae (the pygmy right whale). There are currently 16 species of baleen whales. While cetaceans were historically thought to have descended from Mesonychia, mesonychians, molecular phylogenetics, molecular evidence instead supports them as a clade of even-toed ungulates (Artiodactyla). Baleen whales split from toothed whales (Odontoceti) around 34 mya (unit), million years ago. Baleen whales range in size from the and pygmy right whale to the and blue whale, the Largest organisms, largest known animal to have ever existed. They ar ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Gray Whale
The gray whale (''Eschrichtius robustus''), also known as the grey whale,Britannica Micro.: v. IV, p. 693. is a baleen whale that migrates between feeding and breeding grounds yearly. It reaches a length of , a weight of up to and lives between 55 and 70 years, although one female was estimated to be 75–80 years of age. The common name of the whale comes from the gray patches and white mottling on its dark skin. Gray whales were once called devil fish because of their fighting behavior when hunted. The gray whale is the sole living species in the genus ''Eschrichtius''. It is the sole living genus in the family (biology), family Eschrichtiidae, however some recent studies classify it as a member of the family Rorqual, Balaenopteridae. This mammal is descended from filter-feeding whales that appeared during the Neogene. The gray whale is distributed in a Northeast Pacific (North American), and an endangered species, endangered Northwest Pacific (Asian), population. North Atla ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Baleen Whale
Baleen whales (), also known as whalebone whales, are marine mammals of the order (biology), parvorder Mysticeti in the infraorder Cetacea (whales, dolphins and porpoises), which use baleen plates (or "whalebone") in their mouths to sieve plankton from the water. Mysticeti comprises the family (biology), families Balaenidae (right whale, right and Bowhead whale, bowhead whales), Balaenopteridae (rorquals), Eschrichtiidae (the gray whale) and Cetotheriidae (the pygmy right whale). There are currently 16 species of baleen whales. While cetaceans were historically thought to have descended from Mesonychia, mesonychians, molecular phylogenetics, molecular evidence instead supports them as a clade of even-toed ungulates (Artiodactyla). Baleen whales split from toothed whales (Odontoceti) around 34 mya (unit), million years ago. Baleen whales range in size from the and pygmy right whale to the and blue whale, the Largest organisms, largest known animal to have ever existed. They ar ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mysticeti
Baleen whales (), also known as whalebone whales, are marine mammals of the parvorder Mysticeti in the infraorder Cetacea (whales, dolphins and porpoises), which use baleen plates (or "whalebone") in their mouths to sieve plankton from the water. Mysticeti comprises the families Balaenidae (right and bowhead whales), Balaenopteridae ( rorquals), Eschrichtiidae (the gray whale) and Cetotheriidae (the pygmy right whale). There are currently 16 species of baleen whales. While cetaceans were historically thought to have descended from mesonychians, molecular evidence instead supports them as a clade of even-toed ungulates (Artiodactyla). Baleen whales split from toothed whales (Odontoceti) around 34 million years ago. Baleen whales range in size from the and pygmy right whale to the and blue whale, the largest known animal to have ever existed. They are sexually dimorphic. Baleen whales can have streamlined or large bodies, depending on the feeding behavior, and two l ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Eschrichtioides
''Eschrichtioides'' is an extinct genus of baleen whale known from the early Pliocene of Northern Italy. Its type species, ''E. gastaldii'', had a complex taxonomic history, starting as a cetothere, then as an extinct member of '' Balaenoptera'', before being finally recognized as a relative of the gray whale. Distribution ''Eschrichtioides'' is one of two '' Eschrichtius'' relatives known from the Neogene of Italy, the other being '' Archaeschrichtius''. Its holotype, MRSN 13802, comes from the early Pliocene-age Sabbie d'Asti Formation of the Piedmont region in Italy and it is currently exposed in Asti's paleontological museum "Museo Paleontologico Territoriale dell'Astigiano". Classification Like other cetaceans from the Italian Pliocene, the classification of ''Eschrichtioides'' was highly contentious. described several species of '' Cetotherium'' from the Pliocene of northern Italy, including ''C. cortesi'' based on a specimen ( MSRN 13802) found by Italian geolo ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Glaucobalaena
''Glaucobalaena'' is an extinct genus of eschrichtiid that lived during the Pliocene epoch. Distribution ''Glaucobalaena inopinata'' is known from the Sabbie d'Asti Formation of Piedmont Piedmont ( ; ; ) is one of the 20 regions of Italy, located in the northwest Italy, Northwest of the country. It borders the Liguria region to the south, the Lombardy and Emilia-Romagna regions to the east, and the Aosta Valley region to the ..., Italy. References Monotypic prehistoric mammal genera Prehistoric cetacean genera Pliocene mammals of Europe Fossils of Italy Fossil taxa described in 2024 Eschrichtiidae {{Paleo-whale-stub ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Cetotheriidae
Cetotheriidae is a family of baleen whales (parvorder Mysticeti). The family is known to have existed from the Late Oligocene to the Early Pleistocene before going extinct. Although some phylogenetic studies conducted by 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. Taxonomy After its description by Brant in 1872, Cetotheriidae was used as a wastebasket taxon for baleen whales which were not assignable to extant whale families. Comparing the cranial and mandibular morphology of 23 taxa (including late archaeocetes and both fossil and extant mysticetes), found Cetotheriidae in this traditional sense to be polyphyletic. Based on ten cranial characters, they also concluded that of the twelve included fossil baleen-bearing mysticetes, six formed a monophyletic group, Cetotheriidae ''sensu stricto' ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Balaenopteridae
Rorquals () are the largest clade, group of baleen whales, comprising the family (biology), family Balaenopteridae, which contains nine extant taxon, extant species in two genus, genera. They include the largest known animal that has ever lived, the blue whale, which can reach , and the fin whale, which reaches ; even the smallest of the group, the northern minke whale, reaches . Rorquals take their name from French language, French , which derives from the Norwegian language, Norwegian word : the first element originated from the Old Norse name for this type of whale, , probably related to the Norse word for "red", and the second from the Norse word ''hvalr'' meaning "whale" in general. The family name Balaenopteridae is from the type genus, ''Balaenoptera''. Characteristics All members of the family have a series of longitudinal folds of skin running from below the mouth back to the navel (except the sei whale and common minke whale, which have shorter grooves). These furro ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Cetotherium
''Cetotherium'' ("whale beast") is an extinct genus of baleen whales from the family Cetotheriidae. Taxonomy The family Cetotheriidae and the genus ''Cetotherium'' (sensu lato) have been used as wastebaskets for all kinds of baleen whales, most notably by , Spassky (1954) and . Based on more recent phylogenetic studies and revisions of many 19th century genera, much smaller monophyletic Cetotheriidae and ''Cetotherium'' sensu stricto is limited to a single or only a few species. For example, included only ''C. rathkii'' and ''C. riabinini'' in the genus and only ten genera in the family. Cetotheriidae were thought to have gone extinct during the Pliocene until 2012, when it was hypothesized that the pygmy right whale was the sole surviving species of this family. Formerly assigned to ''Cetotherium'' The following species were originally described as nominal species of ''Cetotherium'' but have been either reassigned to other genera or removed from ''Cetotherium'': * ''Cetot ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Eschrichtius
''Eschrichtius'' is a genus of baleen whale containing two species: the gray whale (''E. robustus'') and the extinct Akishima whale ''Eschrichtius akishimaensis'', described in 2017, is one of two species, with the modern day gray whale, of the genus '' Eschrichtius'', and is the first and only fossil species of the genus, dating to around 1.77–1.95 million years ago (mya) ... (''E. akishimaensis''). References Cetacean genera Mammal genera with one living species Eschrichtiidae Taxa named by John Edward Gray {{Whale-stub ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
