Balaenoptera

Balaenoptera is a genus of rorquals containing eight extant species. Balaenoptera comprises all but two of the extant species in its family ; the genus is currently polyphyletic, with the two aforementioned species being phylogenetically nested within it.

Balaenoptera

NOAA Photo Library · 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
rorqualPBDB
Sits inside
BalaenopteridaePBDB
Diet
suspension feederPBDB, for Balaenopteridae
Life habit
aquaticPBDB, for Mysticeti
Motility
actively mobilePBDB, for Cetacea
Environment
marinePBDB, for Mysticeti

Time the record covers

At least 12 million years on record.

The record covers at least 12.8 Mya to 11.7 ka. No occurrence read is dated outside 23.04 Mya to 0 Mya.

Oligocene — about 0 of 184 occurrencesMiocene — about 29 of 184 occurrencesMiocenePliocene — about 36 of 184 occurrencesPliocenePleistocene — about 29 of 184 occurrencesPleistocene24–23 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences23–22 Mya — about 0.2 occurrences22–21 Mya — about 0.2 occurrences21–20 Mya — about 0.2 occurrences20–20 Mya — about 0.2 occurrences20–19 Mya — about 0.2 occurrences19–18 Mya — about 0.2 occurrences18–17 Mya — about 0.2 occurrences17–16 Mya — about 0.2 occurrences16–16 Mya — about 0.4 occurrences16–15 Mya — about 0.7 occurrences15–14 Mya — about 0.7 occurrences14–13 Mya — about 2 occurrences13–13 Mya — about 3 occurrences13–12 Mya — about 2 occurrences12–11 Mya — about 2 occurrences11–10 Mya — about 2 occurrences10–9.4 Mya — about 2 occurrences9.4–8.6 Mya — about 2 occurrences8.6–7.8 Mya — about 2 occurrences7.8–7.1 Mya — about 2 occurrences7.1–6.3 Mya — about 4 occurrences6.3–5.5 Mya — about 4 occurrences5.5–4.7 Mya — about 9 occurrences4.7–3.9 Mya — about 10 occurrences3.9–3.1 Mya — about 11 occurrences3.1–2.4 Mya — about 8 occurrences2.4–1.6 Mya — about 4 occurrences1.6–785 ka Mya — about 7 occurrences785 ka–0 Mya — about 106 occurrences12.8 Mya11.7 ka23.5 Mya0 Mya

184 occurrences of Balaenoptera 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

184 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

43 formations

Namba — 34.67°N, 135.54°EYorktown — 35.36°N, 76.82°WYorktown — 37.20°N, 76.91°WSan Diego — 32.63°N, 117.10°WSan Diego — 32.90°N, 117.10°WSan Diego — 32.72°N, 117.16°WPurisima — 38.03°N, 122.96°WPurisima — 37.28°N, 122.41°WPisco — 15.50°S, 74.80°WPisco — 15.56°S, 74.69°WHaraichi — 36.32°N, 138.88°EHaraichi — 36.17°N, 138.67°EOsarushinai — 42.92°N, 143.45°EBahía Inglesa — 27.14°S, 70.88°WBahía Inglesa — 27.08°S, 70.84°WMonterey — 36.60°N, 121.89°WAlmejas — 28.11°N, 115.18°WTamiami — 26.72°N, 81.67°WWhaler's Bluff — 38.36°S, 141.60°EGoodwood — 37.91°S, 142.37°EGrange Burn — 37.73°S, 141.94°EBlack Rock Sandstone — 37.99°S, 145.04°ECameron Inlet — 39.98°S, 148.08°ESahabi — 30.14°N, 20.75°ETangahoe — 39.58°S, 174.28°ECalvert — 38.54°N, 76.73°WSanta Vitória — 33.53°S, 53.37°WParana — 31.38°S, 60.23°WKubota — 36.95°N, 140.41°ENa-arai — 35.81°N, 140.81°EGoose Creek — 33.33°N, 80.15°W

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The named rock units Balaenoptera has been recovered from, largest first. Drawn where the rock is now, not where it formed. 19 further formations hold fewer occurrences each and are not listed. 126 occurrences have no formation on record, which is common for older literature.

Found in the same rock

1,181 taxa

The Paleobiology Database records 170 sites for Balaenoptera, and this reads all 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

93 references

Each of the 184 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. 81 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 content3

Picture of Balaenoptera

Credit
NOAA Photo Library
Licence
Public Domain
Commercial use
the licence allows it

CT scan

Licence
not stated by the source
Commercial use
cannot be read from the licence given — check the record
Specimen
Balaenoptera sp. · umzc:vertebrates:C17M

3D model

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

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 itBalaenopteridae through timeThe world it lived on

Occurrence data from the Paleobiology Database, CC BY 4.0. (Lacépède 1804)