Balaena
Encyclopedia
Balaena is a genus of cetacean in the Balaenidae
family
. This family is also known as the Right Whales, which can cause confusion as there is also a species of whale called the Right Whale
. The only extant species is the Bowhead whale
. The fossil record of Balaena, dating to the late Miocene, encompasses ten species known from finds in Europe, North America, and South America. Leiobalaena, described by Eschricht in 1849, is a junior synonym
.
Balaenidae
Balaenidae is a family of mysticete whales that contains two living genera. Commonly called the right whales as it contains mainly right whale species...
family
Family (biology)
In biological classification, family is* a taxonomic rank. Other well-known ranks are life, domain, kingdom, phylum, class, order, genus, and species, with family fitting between order and genus. As for the other well-known ranks, there is the option of an immediately lower rank, indicated by the...
. This family is also known as the Right Whales, which can cause confusion as there is also a species of whale called the Right Whale
Right whale
Right whales are three species of large baleen whales consisting of two genera in the family Balaenidae of order Cetacea. Their bodies are very dark gray or black and rotund....
. The only extant species is the Bowhead whale
Bowhead Whale
The bowhead whale is a baleen whale of the right whale family Balaenidae in suborder Mysticeti. A stocky dark-colored whale without a dorsal fin, it can grow to in length. This thick-bodied species can weigh to , second only to the blue whale, although the bowhead's maximum length is less than...
. The fossil record of Balaena, dating to the late Miocene, encompasses ten species known from finds in Europe, North America, and South America. Leiobalaena, described by Eschricht in 1849, is a junior synonym
Synonym (taxonomy)
In scientific nomenclature, a synonym is a scientific name that is or was used for a taxon of organisms that also goes by a different scientific name. For example, Linnaeus was the first to give a scientific name to the Norway spruce, which he called Pinus abies...
.
Taxonomy
- Balaena Bowhead whaleBowhead WhaleThe bowhead whale is a baleen whale of the right whale family Balaenidae in suborder Mysticeti. A stocky dark-colored whale without a dorsal fin, it can grow to in length. This thick-bodied species can weigh to , second only to the blue whale, although the bowhead's maximum length is less than...
s- †ExtinctionIn biology and ecology, extinction is the end of an organism or of a group of organisms , normally a species. The moment of extinction is generally considered to be the death of the last individual of the species, although the capacity to breed and recover may have been lost before this point...
Balaena affinis (PliocenePlioceneThe Pliocene Epoch is the period in the geologic timescale that extends from 5.332 million to 2.588 million years before present. It is the second and youngest epoch of the Neogene Period in the Cenozoic Era. The Pliocene follows the Miocene Epoch and is followed by the Pleistocene Epoch...
; Red Crag FormationRed Crag FormationThe Red Crag Formation is a series of marine deposits at the base of the Pleistocene in Suffolk and Essex. This material rests on an erosion surface of Cretaceous to Palaeogene rocks...
, UK) - †Balaena arcuata (MioceneMioceneThe Miocene is a geological epoch of the Neogene Period and extends from about . The Miocene was named by Sir Charles Lyell. Its name comes from the Greek words and and means "less recent" because it has 18% fewer modern sea invertebrates than the Pliocene. The Miocene follows the Oligocene...
/Pliocene; Belgium) - †Balaena dubusi (Miocene/Pliocene; Belgium)
- †Balaena forsythmajori (ZancleanZancleanThe Zanclean is the lowest stage or earliest age on the geologic time scale of the Pliocene. It spans the time between 5.332 and 3.6 Ma ± 0.005 Ma . It is preceded by the Messinian age of the Miocene epoch, and followed by the Piacenzian age....
; Case il Poggio. Italy) - †Balaena larteti (Neogene; Landes, France)
- †Balaena macrocephalus (LanghianLanghianThe Langhian is, in the ICS geologic timescale, an age or stage in the middle Miocene epoch/series. It spans the time between 15.97 ± 0.05 Ma and 13.65 ± 0.05 Ma . The Langhian was a continuing warming period defined by Lorenzo Pareto in 1864, it was originally established in the Langhe area north...
; Sos, France) - †Balaena montalionis (PiacenzianPiacenzianThe Piacenzian is in the international geologic timescale the upper stage or latest age of the Pliocene. It spans the time between 3.6 ± 0.005 Ma and 2.588 ± 0.005 Ma...
; CasinaCasinaFor other meanings see Casina .Casina is a comune in the Province of Reggio Emilia in the Italian region Emilia-Romagna, located about 70 km west of Bologna and about 25 km southwest of Reggio Emilia...
, Italy). - Balaena mysticetus, Bowhead WhaleBowhead WhaleThe bowhead whale is a baleen whale of the right whale family Balaenidae in suborder Mysticeti. A stocky dark-colored whale without a dorsal fin, it can grow to in length. This thick-bodied species can weigh to , second only to the blue whale, although the bowhead's maximum length is less than...
(Late PleistoceneLate PleistoceneThe Late Pleistocene is a stage of the Pleistocene Epoch. The beginning of the stage is defined by the base of the Eemian interglacial phase before the final glacial episode of the Pleistocene 126,000 ± 5,000 years ago. The end of the stage is defined exactly at 10,000 Carbon-14 years BP...
to Modern) - †Balaena pampaea (CalabrianCalabrianCalabrian may refer to:* Calabrian languages, the languages and dialects spoken in Calabria* Calabrians, the people of Calabria, southern Italy...
; Pampeana Formation, Bahia BlancaBahía BlancaBahía Blanca is a city located in the south-west of the province of Buenos Aires, Argentina, by the Atlantic Ocean, and seat of government of Bahía Blanca Partido. It has a population of 274,509 inhabitants according to the...
, Argentina) - †Balaena ricei (Piacenzian; Rice's Pit, Yorktown FormationYorktown FormationThe Yorktown Formation is a mapped bedrock unit in the Coastal Plain of Maryland, Virginia, North Carolina and South Carolina. It is overconsolidated and highly fossiliferous.-Description:...
, Virginia, USA). - †Balaena simpsoni (Miocene/Pliocene; AncudAncudAncud is a city in southern Chile located in the northernmost part of the island and province of Chiloé, in Los Lagos Region .-Geography:...
, Chile)
- †