Balaenula

Balaenula; Temporal range: Pliocene PreꞒ Ꞓ O S D C P T J K Pg N ↓
	Balaenula balaenopsis holotype skeleton
Scientific classification
Domain:	Eukaryota
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Mammalia
Order:	Artiodactyla
Infraorder:	Cetacea
Family:	Balaenidae
Genus:	†Balaenula; van Beneden, 1872
Type species
	Balaenula balaenopsis; van Beneden, 1872
Species
	†Balaenula balaenopsis Van Beneden, 1872 (Type); †Balaenula astensis Trevisan, 1942 (from Italy);

Balaenula is an extinct genus of baleen whale species which lived during the Pliocene epoch of Europe and possibly North America.^[3]^[4] Balaenula is a small whale measuring within the range of 6–8 metres (20–26 ft) in length.^[5]

Taxonomy

Historically, Balaenula has been treated as a wastebasket taxon, so recent taxonomic revisions have resulted in only two named species of Balaenula to be known from the Pliocene epoch in the marine strata of Belgium and Italy, but the recognition of the type specimen as an individual is doubtful.^[4]

An unnamed species previously described from Japan has been redescribed as a separate taxon Archaeobalaena dosanko.^[4] An unnamed species with most complete specimen is known from the U.S.^[6] (as well as the only one on display in North America^[7]) was found at Lake Waccamaw, North Carolina in 2008. The whale's skull was excavated from the limestone outcropping by the state's Underwater Archaeology Branch, prepared, and permanently displayed at the Lake Waccamaw Depot Museum starting 2012.^[8]

References

^ P. J. Van Beneden. 1872. Les Baleines fossiles d'Anvers. Bulletins de L'Academie Royale des Sciences, des Lettres et des Beaux-arts 34:6-23
^ L. Trevisan. 1942. Una nuova specie de Balaenula pliocenica. Palaeontogrphia Italica 40:1-13
^ Churchill, M.; Berta, A.; Deméré, T. (2012). "The systematics of right whales (Mysteceti: Balaenidae)". Marine Mammal Science. 28 (3): 497–521. Bibcode:2012MMamS..28..497C. doi:10.1111/j.1748-7692.2011.00504.x.
^ ^a ^b ^c Yoshihiro Tanaka; Hitoshi Furusawa; Masaichi Kimura (2020). "A new member of fossil balaenid (Mysticeti, Cetacea) from the early Pliocene of Hokkaido, Japan". Royal Society Open Science. 7 (4): Article ID 192182. Bibcode:2020RSOS....792182T. doi:10.1098/rsos.192182. PMC 7211833. PMID 32431893.
^ Marx, F.G.; Lambert, O. (2020). "Fossil record" (PDF). In George, J.C.; Thewissen, J.G.M. (eds.). The Bowhead Whale Balaena mysticetus: Biology and Human Interactions. Academic Press. ISBN 9780128189696.
^ ncstateparks (2012-08-29). "Prehistoric Whale Gets a Home at Lake Waccamaw State Park". North Carolina State Parks. Retrieved 2016-05-31.
^ altondooley (2012-08-26). "Lake Waccamaw exhibit". Updates from the Paleontology Lab. Retrieved 2016-05-31.
^ "Lake Waccamaw State Park to Dedicate Exhibit of Rare Whale Fossil | NC State Parks". www.ncparks.gov. Archived from the original on 2016-05-24. Retrieved 2016-05-31.