''Incakujira'' (meaning Inca whale) is a

genus Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms as well as viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus comes above species and below family. In binomial n ...

rorqual Rorquals () are the largest group of baleen whales, which comprise the family Balaenopteridae, containing ten extant species in three genera. They include the largest animal that has ever lived, the blue whale, which can reach , and the fin ...

whales that lived during the

Late Miocene The Late Miocene (also known as Upper Miocene) is a sub-epoch of the Miocene Epoch made up of two stages. The Tortonian and Messinian stages comprise the Late Miocene sub-epoch, which lasted from 11.63 Ma (million years ago) to 5.333 Ma. The ...

epoch in what are now the coasts of

Peru , image_flag = Flag of Peru.svg , image_coat = Escudo nacional del Perú.svg , other_symbol = Great Seal of the State , other_symbol_type = Seal (emblem), National seal , national_motto = "Fi ...

, about 8 million to 7.3

million years The abbreviation Myr, "million years", is a unit of a quantity of (i.e. ) years, or 31.556926 teraseconds. Usage Myr (million years) is in common use in fields such as Earth science and cosmology. Myr is also used with Mya (million years ago). ...

ago. It contains a single species, ''Incakujira anillodefuego'', named and described in 2016 with known specimens coming from the

Pisco Formation The Pisco Formation is a geologic formation located in Peru, on the southern coastal desert of Ica and Arequipa. The approximately thick formation was deposited in the Pisco Basin, spanning an age from the Middle Miocene up to the Early Pleis ...

Description

''Incakujira'' differs from other rorquals (fossil and extant) in having a less attenuated rostrum and the features of the maxilla, supraorbital, and remainder of the cranium. ''Kujira'' in the genus name means "whale" in Japanese.

Paleobiology

The twisted postglenoid process of the squamosal suggests that the lunge-feeding capabilities of ''Incakujira'' were not as great as those of extant rorquals, and that ''Incakujira'' itself also pursued additional

krill Krill are small crustaceans of the order Euphausiacea, and are found in all the world's oceans. The name "krill" comes from the Norwegian word ', meaning "small fry of fish", which is also often attributed to species of fish. Krill are consid ...

-feeding strategies like skimming.

References

External links

* * Miocene cetaceans Prehistoric cetacean genera Tortonian life Miocene mammals of South America Huayquerian Neogene Peru Fossils of Peru Pisco Formation Fossil taxa described in 2016 Extinct animals of Peru {{paleo-whale-stub