Diunatans

Diunatans is an extinct genus of rorqual. It lived in the North Sea during the Early Pliocene. Two specimens have been found from the Netherlands. They were collected from the Kattendijk Formation in the province of Zeeland, which is Zanclean in age. Diunatans is considered to be a stem balaenopterid because it falls outside the Balaenoptera+Megaptera clade, which includes all living rorquals.

No picture of Diunatans was found. Wikipedia, Wikidata and iDigBio were searched and had none. Smithsonian Open Access did not answer, so this is what the others held rather than everything there is. GBIF was asked, and what came back is not recorded: nothing, or a picture this site could not tie to Diunatans, or no answer at all. This entry cannot say which.

On record

Recorded, not inferred
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 most 1.8 million years on record.

Every occurrence read is dated to somewhere between 5.333 Mya and 3.6 Mya, and nothing in the dating separates them, so that window is what the record shows rather than a span.

Miocene — about 0 of 3 occurrencesPliocene — about 3 of 3 occurrencesPliocene5.4–5.3 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences5.3–5.2 Mya — about 0.2 occurrences5.2–5.1 Mya — about 0.2 occurrences5.1–5.0 Mya — about 0.2 occurrences5.0–4.9 Mya — about 0.2 occurrences4.9–4.8 Mya — about 0.2 occurrences4.8–4.7 Mya — about 0.2 occurrences4.7–4.6 Mya — about 0.2 occurrences4.6–4.6 Mya — about 0.2 occurrences4.6–4.5 Mya — about 0.2 occurrences4.5–4.4 Mya — about 0.2 occurrences4.4–4.3 Mya — about 0.2 occurrences4.3–4.2 Mya — about 0.2 occurrences4.2–4.1 Mya — about 0.2 occurrences4.1–4.0 Mya — about 0.2 occurrences4.0–3.9 Mya — about 0.2 occurrences3.9–3.8 Mya — about 0.2 occurrences3.8–3.7 Mya — about 0.2 occurrences3.7–3.6 Mya — about 0.2 occurrences3.6–3.6 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences5.83 Mya3.1 Mya

3 occurrences of Diunatans on record, most of them in the Pliocene. 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

3 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

2 formations

Varswater — 33.67°S, 18.43°EVarswater — 33.00°S, 18.00°EKattendijk — 51.41°N, 3.55°E

Loading coastlines…

The named rock units Diunatans has been recovered from, largest first. Drawn where the rock is now, not where it formed.

Diunatans and its relatives

Pliocene

Where Diunatans and its relatives were recorded in the Pliocene.

Found in the same rock

56 taxa

The Paleobiology Database records 3 sites for Diunatans, 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

3 references

Each of the 3 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. Each entry links to doi.org. Relayed as the Paleobiology Database holds them, not checked against what they resolve to.

Media and terms

Media content0

No picture of Diunatans was found. Wikipedia, Wikidata and iDigBio were searched and had none.

Smithsonian Open Access did not answer, so this is what the others held rather than everything there is.

GBIF was asked, and what came back is not recorded: nothing, or a picture this site could not tie to Diunatans, or no answer at all. This entry cannot say which.

No 3D scan of Diunatans was found in MorphoSource and Sketchfab.

Smithsonian Open Access 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 itBalaenopteridae through timeFormations of the PlioceneThe world it lived on

Occurrence data from the Paleobiology Database, CC BY 4.0. Bosselaers and Post 2010