A new species of Metopocetus (Cetacea, Mysticeti, Cetotheriidae) from the Late Miocene of the Netherlands (project)

10.7934/p2225 ◽  
2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
G Marx ◽  
E Bosselaers ◽  
L Louwye
Keyword(s):  
New Species ◽  
The Netherlands ◽  
Late Miocene ◽  
A New Species

scholarly journals A large Late Miocene cetotheriid (Cetacea, Mysticeti) from the Netherlands clarifies the status of Tranatocetidae

PeerJ ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 7 ◽  
pp. e6426 ◽  
Author(s):  
Felix G. Marx ◽  
Klaas Post ◽  
Mark Bosselaers ◽  
Dirk K. Munsterman
Keyword(s):  
Phylogenetic Analysis ◽  
New Species ◽  
The Netherlands ◽  
Late Miocene ◽  
Global Distribution ◽  
Single Family ◽  
Unrelated Family ◽  
Baleen Whales ◽  
The Status ◽  
A New Species

Cetotheriidae are a group of small baleen whales (Mysticeti) that evolved alongside modern rorquals. They once enjoyed a nearly global distribution, but then largely went extinct during the Plio-Pleistocene. After languishing as a wastebasket taxon for more than a century, the concept of Cetotheriidae is now well established. Nevertheless, the clade remains notable for its variability, and its scope remains in flux. In particular, the recent referral of several traditional cetotheriids to a new and seemingly unrelated family, Tranatocetidae, has created major phylogenetic uncertainty. Here, we describe a new species of Tranatocetus, the type of Tranatocetidae, from the Late Miocene of the Netherlands. Tranatocetus maregermanicum sp. nov. clarifies several of the traits previously ascribed to this genus, and reveals distinctive auditory and mandibular morphologies suggesting cetotheriid affinities. This interpretation is supported by a large phylogenetic analysis, which mingles cetotheriids and tranatocetids within a unified clade. As a result, we suggest that both groups should be reintegrated into the single family Cetotheriidae.

scholarly journals A new species ofMetopocetus(Cetacea, Mysticeti, Cetotheriidae) from the Late Miocene of the Netherlands

PeerJ ◽  
2016 ◽  
Vol 4 ◽  
pp. e1572 ◽  
Author(s):  
Felix Georg Marx ◽  
Mark E.J. Bosselaers ◽  
Stephen Louwye
Keyword(s):  
New Species ◽  
The Netherlands ◽  
Late Miocene ◽  
Ventral Surface ◽  
Baleen Whale ◽  
Infraorbital Foramen ◽  
Posterior Process ◽  
The Family ◽  
Phylogenetic Affinities ◽  
A New Species

The family Cetotheriidae has played a major role in recent discussions of baleen whale phylogenetics. Within this group, the enigmatic, monotypicMetopocetus durinasushas been interpreted as transitional between herpetocetines and other members of the family, but so far has been restricted to a single, fragmentary cranium of uncertain provenance and age. Here, we expand the genus and shed new light on its phylogenetic affinities and functional morphology by describingMetopocetus hunterisp. nov. from the Late Miocene of the Netherlands. Unlike the holotype ofM. durinasus, the material described here is confidently dated and preserves both the tympanic bulla and additional details of the basicranium.M. huntericlosely resemblesM. durinasus, differing primarily in its somewhat less distally expanded compound posterior process of the tympanoperiotic. Both species are characterised by the development of an unusually large fossa on the ventral surface of the paroccipital process, which extends anteriorly on to the compound posterior process and completely floors the facial sulcus. In life, this enlarged fossa may have housed the posterior sinus and/or the articulation of the stylohyal. Like other cetotheriids,Metopocetusalso bears a well-developed, posteriorly-pointing dorsal infraorbital foramen near the base of the ascending process of the maxilla, the precise function of which remains unclear.

Neogastropod molluscs from the Miocene of western Amazonia, with comments on marine to freshwater transitions in molluscs

2002 ◽  
Vol 76 (2) ◽  
pp. 265-270 ◽  
Author(s):  
Geerat J. Vermeij ◽  
Frank P. Wesselingh
Keyword(s):  
New Species ◽  
Water Level ◽  
Late Miocene ◽  
Southeast Asian ◽  
South American ◽  
Seasonal Fluctuations ◽  
Early Late ◽  
A New Species ◽  
Freshwater Environments

Two neogastropod species occur in brackish intervals in the Pebas Formation (late Middle to early Late Miocene) of Peru and Colombia in western Amazonia. Purpura woodwardi Roxo, 1924, is assigned to Melongena Schumacher, 1817 (Melongenidae), and ?Nassarius reductus (Nassariidae) is recognized as a new species. These gastropods are among the very few marine invaders in the otherwise freshwater Pebas fauna. The small number of marine to freshwater transitions among South American molluscs contrasts with the situation among South American fishes and southeast Asian molluscs. It may be related to seasonal fluctuations in water level and anoxia in present-day South American freshwater environments, as well as to predation and productivity.

scholarly journals A new species of Cantharomyces (Laboulbeniales, Ascomycota) from the Netherlands

Mycotaxon ◽  
2013 ◽  
Vol 123 (1) ◽  
pp. 467-472 ◽  
Author(s):  
D. Haelewaters ◽  
A. De Kesel
Keyword(s):  
New Species ◽  
The Netherlands ◽  
A New Species
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