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Matapanui
''Matapanui'' is a genus of eomysticetid baleen whale from the Late Oligocene (early Chattian) Kokoamu Greensand of New Zealand. Taxonomy ''Matapanui'' was originally named ''Matapa'', but that name was already in use for a genus of butterfly, necessitating the name change.Robert W. Boessenecker; R. Ewan Fordyce (2016). "Matapanui, a replacement name for Matapa Boessenecker & Fordyce, 2016". Journal of Systematic Palaeontology. Online edition. doi:10.1080/14772019.2016.1210070. Paleobiology Based on the enlarged temporal fossae and enlarged mandibular canal, ''Matapanui'' was probably incapable of lunge-feeding, although it remains unclear whether it could skim-feed or filter prey in the benthic zone. ''Waharoa'' shared its habitat with the odontocetes '' Awamokoa'', '' Austrosqualodon'', '' Otekaikea'', and ''Waipatia'', and the mysticetes ''Horopeta'', '' Mauicetus'', '' Tohoraata'', '' Tokarahia'', ''Waharoa'', and ''Whakakai ''Whakakai'' is a genus of baleen whale from ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Kokoamu Greensand
The Kokoamu Greensand is a geological formation found in New Zealand. It is a fossil-bearing, late Oligocene, greensand rock unit of the eastern South Island, especially the Waitaki District of North Otago and the southern Canterbury region. The formation was named by geologist Maxwell Gage in the 1950s. In North Otago it underlies the thicker and harder Otekaike Limestone. The formation gets its green colour from the mineral glauconite which forms slowly on the ocean floor. Fossil content The formation was laid down in shallow seas some 26-30 million years ago. It contains abundant microfossils of foraminifera, ostracods and coccoliths, those of larger marine invertebrates such as the shells of brachiopods, gastropods and scallops, as well as corals, echinoderms, and crustaceans. Vertebrates found in the formation include fish, penguins and cetaceans. Many of the fossils discovered in the formation are held in the Geology Museum of the University of Otago. ;Penguins * '' ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Eomysticetid
Eomysticetidae is a family of extinct mysticetes belonging to Chaeomysticeti (toothless mysticetes). It is one of two families in the basal chaeomysticete clade Eomysticetoidea (the other being Cetotheriopsidae). Description Eomysticetids are united by the following combination of primitive and derived characters relative to more advanced chaeomysticetes (Balaenomorpha): zygomatic process without a supramastoid crest; reduction of the superior process of the periotic into a low ridge with anterior and posterior apices in medial or lateral view; blowholes situated ahead of the eyes; an elongated intertemporal region with long parietal and frontal exposures on the cranial vertex; elongated nasals; large coronoid processes of the mandibles; flat rostrum; laterally bowed mandibles; absence of functional teeth; and large mandibular foramina. Taxonomy There are seven genera of Eomysticetidae: ''Eomysticetus'', ''Matapanui'', ''Micromysticetus'', ''Tohoraata'', ''Tokarahia'', ''Wa ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Horopeta
''Horopeta'' is a genus of baleen whale from the Late Oligocene (Chattian) Kokoamu Greensand of New Zealand. Description ''Horopeta'' can be distinguished from other balaenomorphs in the following characters: base of frontal sloping moderately from skull midline; parietal considerably exposed at sagittal crest; parietal largely exposed at sagittal crest; unfused and short posterior process of periotic and tympanic bulla; prominent superior process of periotic; presence of elliptical foramen and sigmoidal cavity in tympanic bulla; unfused and short posterior processes of periotic and tympanic bulla; a distinct pedicle plate situated in fovea epitubaria; presence of horizontal cleft, elliptical foramen, and sigmoidal cavity in tympanic bulla.Cheng-Hsiu Tsai; R. Ewan Fordyce (2015). "The Earliest Gulp-Feeding Mysticete (Cetacea: Mysticeti) from the Oligocene of New Zealand". Journal of Mammalian Evolution 22 (4): 535–560. doi:10.1007/s10914-015-9290-0. Classification Initial cladi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Whakakai
''Whakakai'' is a genus of baleen whale from the Late Oligocene (Chattian) Kokoamu Greensand of New Zealand. Classification Phylogenetic analysis recovers ''Whakakai'' outside crown Mysticeti as the sister taxon of ''Horopeta''.Tsai, C.H., Fordyce R.E., 2016. Archaic baleen whale from the Kokoamu Greensand: earbones distinguish a new late Oligocene mysticete (Cetacea: Mysticeti) from New Zealand. Journal of the Royal Society of New Zealand. doi:10.1080/03036758.2016.1156552 Paleobiology ''Whakakai'' has been recovered in the same deposits that have also yielded the primitive odontocetes '' Awamokoa'', '' Austrosqualodon'', '' Otekaikea'', and ''Waipatia'', the eomysticetids '' Matapanui'', '' Tohoraata'', '' Tokarahia'', and ''Waharoa'', and the balaenomorphs '' Mauicetus'' and ''Horopeta ''Horopeta'' is a genus of baleen whale from the Late Oligocene (Chattian) Kokoamu Greensand of New Zealand. Description ''Horopeta'' can be distinguished from other balaenomorphs in the f ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Waharoa (whale)
''Waharoa'' is a genus of eomysticetid baleen whale from the Late Oligocene (Chattian) of New Zealand. It was identified with the discovery of ''Waharoa ruwhenua'' by Boessenecker and Fordyce (2015), which added a new genus and species to a monophyletic family Eomysticetidae. Description Boessenecker and Fordyce (2015) characterize the species as follows: "''Waharoa ruwhenua'' shares ''Tohoraata'' and ''Tokarahia'' dorsoventrally shallow and wide occipital condyles, a triangular anterior process and well-developed incisural flange of the periotic; with ''Tohoraata'' and ''Tokarahia'' a concave anterodorsal margin of the anterior process of the periotic and a smooth and transversely convex posterior bullar facet; with ''Tohoraata'' a distinct lateral tubercle on the anterior process; and with ''Eomysticetus'' and ''Micromysticetus'' a short posterior process".Boessenecker RW, Fordyce RE. (2015) Anatomy, feeding ecology, and ontogeny of a transitional baleen whale: a new genus an ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Late Oligocene
The Chattian is, in the geologic timescale, the younger of two ages or upper of two stages of the Oligocene Epoch/Series. It spans the time between . The Chattian is preceded by the Rupelian and is followed by the Aquitanian (the lowest stage of the Miocene). Stratigraphic definition The Chattian was introduced by Austrian palaeontologist Theodor Fuchs in 1894. Fuchs named the stage after the Chatti, a Germanic tribe.Berry, Edward W"The Mayence Basin, a Chapter of Geologic History" ''The Scientific Monthly'', Vol. 16, No. 2, February 1923. pp. 114. Retrieved March 18, 2020. The original type locality was near the German city of Kassel. The base of the Chattian is at the extinction of the foram genus ''Chiloguembelina'' (which is also the base of foram biozone P21b). An official GSSP for the Chattian Stage was ratified in October of 2016. The top of the Chattian Stage (which is the base of the Aquitanian Stage, Miocene Series and Neogene System) is at the first appearance of ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Paleogene Oceania
The Paleogene ( ; also spelled Palaeogene or Palæogene; informally Lower Tertiary or Early Tertiary) is a geologic period and system that spans 43 million years from the end of the Cretaceous Period million years ago ( Mya) to the beginning of the Neogene Period Mya. It is the beginning of the Cenozoic Era of the present Phanerozoic Eon. The earlier term Tertiary Period was used to define the span of time now covered by the Paleogene Period and subsequent Neogene Period; despite no longer being recognised as a formal stratigraphic term, 'Tertiary' is still widely found in earth science literature and remains in informal use. Paleogene is often abbreviated "Pg" (but the United States Geological Survey uses the abbreviation PE for the Paleogene on the Survey's geologic maps). During the Paleogene, mammals diversified from relatively small, simple forms into a large group of diverse animals in the wake of the Cretaceous–Paleogene extinction event that ended the preceding Cr ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Oligocene Cetaceans
The Oligocene ( ) is a geologic epoch of the Paleogene Period and extends from about 33.9 million to 23 million years before the present ( to ). As with other older geologic periods, the rock beds that define the epoch are well identified but the exact dates of the start and end of the epoch are slightly uncertain. The name Oligocene was coined in 1854 by the German paleontologist Heinrich Ernst Beyrich from his studies of marine beds in Belgium and Germany. The name comes from the Ancient Greek (''olígos'', "few") and (''kainós'', "new"), and refers to the sparsity of extant forms of molluscs. The Oligocene is preceded by the Eocene Epoch and is followed by the Miocene Epoch. The Oligocene is the third and final epoch of the Paleogene Period. The Oligocene is often considered an important time of transition, a link between the archaic world of the tropical Eocene and the more modern ecosystems of the Miocene. Major changes during the Oligocene included a global expansion ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Prehistoric Cetacean Genera
Prehistory, also known as pre-literary history, is the period of human history between the use of the first stone tools by hominins 3.3 million years ago and the beginning of recorded history with the invention of writing systems. The use of symbols, marks, and images appears very early among humans, but the earliest known writing systems appeared 5000 years ago. It took thousands of years for writing systems to be widely adopted, with writing spreading to almost all cultures by the 19th century. The end of prehistory therefore came at very different times in different places, and the term is less often used in discussing societies where prehistory ended relatively recently. In the early Bronze Age, Sumer in Mesopotamia, the Indus Valley Civilisation, and ancient Egypt were the first civilizations to develop their own scripts and to keep historical records, with their neighbors following. Most other civilizations reached the end of prehistory during the following Iron Age. T ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Tokarahia
''Tokarahia'' is a genus of eomysticetid baleen whale from the Late Oligocene (Chattian) of New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count .... There are two recognized species, ''T. kauaeroa'' and ''T. lophocephalus''. Description ''Tokarahia'' differs from other eomysticetids in possessing elongate, dorsoventrally tapering zygomatic processes that are medially bowed, with a concave lateral margin, an elongate diamond-shaped posterior bullar facet lacking longitudinal striations, and a transverse crest on the dorsal surface of the periotic, between the posterodorsal angle and the posterior internal acoustic meatus. It is similar to '' Tohoraata raekohao'' in having numerous foramina in the supraorbital process of the frontal, an ovalshaped incisural flange closely a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Tohoraata
''Tohoraata'' is a genus of eomysticetid baleen whale from the Late Oligocene (Chattian) of New Zealand. There are two recognized species, ''T. raekohao'' and ''T. waitakiensis''.Robert W. Boessenecker and R. Ewan Fordyce (2014). "A new Eomysticetid (Mammalia: Cetacea) from the Late Oligocene of New Zealand and a re-evaluation of ‘Mauicetus’ waitakiensis". Papers in Palaeontology. in press. doi:10.1002/spp2.1005. Classification ''Tohoraata'' is a member of the family Eomysticetidae, a family of primitive baleen-bearing mysticetes (chaeomysticetes). The type species, ''T. raekohao'', is based on OU 22178, a partial skull associated with a thoracic vertebra and five ribs, collected from the Maerewhenua Member of the Otekaike Limestone. On the other hand, ''T. waitakiensis'', is known from OMC GL 402, a partial skull and five neck vertebrae collected in the Kokoamu Greensand. It was originally described as a species of ''Mauicetus'', but was eventually recognized as more primi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mauicetus
''Mauicetus'' is a genus of extinct baleen whale from the Late Oligocene The Oligocene ( ) is a geologic epoch of the Paleogene Period and extends from about 33.9 million to 23 million years before the present ( to ). As with other older geologic periods, the rock beds that define the epoch are well identified but the ... of New Zealand. Taxonomy ''Mauicetus'' was originally named ''Lophocephalus'' by William Benham, but that name was already used for a beetle, and Benham provided the replacement name ''Mauicetus.'' Three more species were named in 1956: ''M. brevicollis'', ''M. lophocephalus'', and ''M. waitakiensis''. Nowadays, ''Mauicetus parki'' is considered a stem-balaenopteroid, while ''M. lophocephalus'' and ''M. waitakiensis'' have been reclassified in Eomysticetidae, with ''M. lophocephalus'' and ''M. waitakiensis'' being assigned to '' Tokarahia'' and '' Tohoraata''.Robert W. Boessenecker and R. Ewan Fordyce (2015). "A new genus and species of eomysticetid (Cetacea ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
