Balaena

Balaena is a genus of cetacean (whale) in the family Balaenidae. Balaena is considered a monotypic genus, as it has only a single extant species, the bowhead whale. It was named in 1758 by Linnaeus, who at the time considered all of the right whales as a single species. Historically, both the family Balaenidae and genus Balaena were known by the common name, "right whales", however Balaena are now known as bowhead whales.

Balaena

Frederick W. · Public Domain · via Wikipedia/Commons. May be a photograph of a specimen, or an artist’s reconstruction — an interpretation of a skeleton, since colour and soft tissue are almost never preserved.

On record

Recorded, not inferred
Also called
bowhead whalePBDB
Sits inside
BalaenidaePBDB
Diet
suspension feederPBDB, for Balaenidae
Life habit
aquaticPBDB, for Mysticeti
Motility
actively mobilePBDB, for Cetacea
Environment
marinePBDB, for Mysticeti

Time the record covers

At least 15 million years on record.

The record covers at least 15.98 Mya to 11.7 ka. No occurrence read is dated outside 20.45 Mya to 0 Mya.

Miocene — about 7 of 438 occurrencesMiocenePliocene — about 15 of 438 occurrencesPliocenePleistocene — about 65 of 438 occurrencesPleistocene21–20 Mya — about 0.0 occurrences20–20 Mya — about 0.2 occurrences20–19 Mya — about 0.2 occurrences19–18 Mya — about 0.2 occurrences18–17 Mya — about 0.2 occurrences17–17 Mya — about 0.2 occurrences17–16 Mya — about 0.2 occurrences16–15 Mya — about 0.0 occurrences14–13 Mya — about 0.3 occurrences13–13 Mya — about 0.3 occurrences13–12 Mya — about 0.3 occurrences12–11 Mya — about 0.3 occurrences11–10 Mya — about 0.3 occurrences10–9.8 Mya — about 0.3 occurrences9.8–9.1 Mya — about 0.3 occurrences9.1–8.4 Mya — about 0.3 occurrences8.4–7.7 Mya — about 0.3 occurrences7.7–7.0 Mya — about 0.6 occurrences7.0–6.3 Mya — about 1 occurrence6.3–5.6 Mya — about 1 occurrence5.6–4.9 Mya — about 2 occurrences4.9–4.2 Mya — about 3 occurrences4.2–3.5 Mya — about 3 occurrences3.5–2.8 Mya — about 5 occurrences2.8–2.1 Mya — about 3 occurrences2.1–1.4 Mya — about 2 occurrences1.4–698 ka Mya — about 2 occurrences698 ka–0 Mya — about 411 occurrences15.98 Mya11.7 ka20.9 Mya0 Mya

438 occurrences of Balaena on record. The Paleobiology Database records this as a living group. Bar height is expected occurrences, not a count: each fossil is spread across the span it is dated to, so a tall narrow bar means tight dating and a low wide one means loose.

When

438 occurrences

These are dates about fossils, not the animal: the record can only begin after it arose and end before it died out, so either end may reach further. Shares are expected occurrences: a fossil dated to a span is counted partly in each period it straddles. More on what this infers.

Found in

11 formations

Yorktown — 35.36°N, 76.82°WYorktown — 37.04°N, 76.36°WBlack Rock Sandstone — 37.99°S, 145.04°ENa-arai — 35.81°N, 140.81°EPort Orford — 42.83°N, 124.55°WSables des Landes — 43.94°N, 0.75°WVillamagna — 43.59°N, 10.67°ENoguchi — 38.89°N, 140.26°EEastover — 38.16°N, 76.83°WWaccamaw — 33.10°N, 80.31°WNavidad — 33.95°S, 71.82°WCromer Forest Bed — 52.92°N, 1.34°E

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The named rock units Balaena has been recovered from, largest first. Drawn where the rock is now, not where it formed. 425 occurrences have no formation on record, which is common for older literature.

Found in the same rock

839 taxa

The Paleobiology Database records 431 sites for Balaena, and this reads 240 of them. The number is how many of those sites it was catalogued from too. The 24 sharing the most are listed.

This is not a list of everything alive at the time. It is only what has come out of the same ground as this animal and been written down.

Entered from

68 references

Each of the 438 occurrences read was entered from one of these publications, ordered by how many each accounts for. This is not a search for papers mentioning the name. 56 further references are not listed. Entries link to doi.org where the Paleobiology Database holds an identifier, and to its own record where it does not. Relayed as the Paleobiology Database holds them, not checked against what they resolve to.

Media and terms

Media content2

Picture of Balaena

Credit
Frederick W.
Licence
Public Domain
Commercial use
the licence allows it

3D model

Source
Sketchfab
Licence
CC Attribution
Commercial use
cannot be read from the licence given — check the record

Smithsonian Open Access and MorphoSource were not reached for this taxon, so this list is what the others held rather than everything there is.

The description on this site

Licence
CC BY-SA 4.0

This is what the site found, which is not the same as what exists.

Keep going

What may have been alongside itBalaenidae through timeThe world it lived on

Occurrence data from the Paleobiology Database, CC BY 4.0. Linnaeus 1758