Balaenoptera borealis

The sei whale is a baleen whale. It is one of ten rorqual species, and the third-largest member after the blue and fin whales. It can grow to 19.5 m (64 ft) in length and weigh as much as 28 t. Two subspecies are recognized: B. b. borealis and B. b. schlegelii. The whale's ventral surface has sporadic markings ranging from light grey to white, and its body is usually dark steel grey in colour. It is among the fastest of all cetaceans, and can reach speeds of up to 50–55 km/h (31–34 mph) over short distances. 

Balaenoptera borealis

Christin Khan , NOAA / NEFSC · 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
sei whalePBDB
Sits inside
BalaenopteraPBDB
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 11 million years on record.

The record covers at least 11.63 Mya to 11.7 ka. No occurrence read is dated outside 15.98 Mya to 0 Mya.

Miocene — about 1 of 9 occurrencesMiocenePliocene — about 1 of 9 occurrencesPliocenePleistocene — about 3 of 9 occurrencesPleistocene16–16 Mya — about 0.0 occurrences16–15 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences15–15 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences15–14 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences14–14 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences14–13 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences13–13 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences13–12 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences12–12 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences3.8–3.3 Mya — about 0.3 occurrences3.3–2.7 Mya — about 0.5 occurrences2.7–2.2 Mya — about 0.4 occurrences2.2–1.6 Mya — about 0.3 occurrences1.6–1.1 Mya — about 0.3 occurrences1.1–549 ka Mya — about 0.2 occurrences549 ka–0 Mya — about 6 occurrences11.63 Mya11.7 ka16.5 Mya0 Mya

9 occurrences of Balaenoptera borealis 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

9 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

3 formations

Kubota — 36.95°N, 140.41°EOsarushinai — 42.92°N, 143.45°EShiomi — 42.65°N, 141.88°E

Loading coastlines…

The named rock units Balaenoptera borealis has been recovered from, largest first. Drawn where the rock is now, not where it formed. 6 occurrences have no formation on record, which is common for older literature.

Found in the same rock

18 taxa

The Paleobiology Database records 9 sites for Balaenoptera borealis, and this reads all of them. The number is how many of those sites it was catalogued from too.

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

6 references

Each of the 9 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. 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 Balaenoptera borealis

Credit
Christin Khan , NOAA / NEFSC
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

MorphoSource was 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 itBalaenoptera through timeThe world it lived on

Occurrence data from the Paleobiology Database, CC BY 4.0. (Lesson 1828)