Herentalia nigra gen. et sp. nov. is described and compared to other mysticetes. It belongs to Cetotheriidae s.s. and represents one of the best-preserved cetotheriid skulls from the southern border of the North Sea. A comprehensive phylogenetic analysis revealed that it is closely related to Nannocetus and to a Japanese Herpetocetus, suggesting that it belongs to the subfamily Herpetocetinae. The phylogenetic analysis performed tests the recent hypothesis that Caperea marginata belongs to Cetotheriidae. However the present results confirm that the pygmy right whale cannot be considered a member of Cetotheriidae. The phylogenetic analysis was used as the basis for a cladistic palaeobiogeographical analysis of Cetotheriidae that revealed that the family originated in the Pacific basin during the Burdigalian and subsequently underwent a sequence of dispersal and vicariance events that allowed its members to enter other ocean basins. The evolution of Cetotheriidae diversity was punctuated by two distinct phases of species originations (one in the Burdigalian and the other in the Tortonian) that broadly correspond to a massive increase of food availability in the ocean trophic webs. http://zoobank.org/urn:lsid:zoobank.org:pub:DB1647B0-53E9-4014-B31A-F8B063923EB4

The taxonomic revision of Isocetus depauwi Van Beneden, 1880 was carried out through the description of a number of specimens assigned to this species by Van Beneden and Abel in the last decades of the 19th and the early decades of the 20th centuries. After detailed comparisons with the published record of archaic mysticetes, the genus and species are considered valid despite the incompleteness and poor preservation of the material. Diagnostic features are found in the morphology of the mandibular condyle, the angular process of the dentary and the thoracic vertebrae. The new species Parietobalaena campiniana is established based on a partial skeleton, including most of the skull and ear bones, previously assigned to Isocetus depauwi by Abel. Parietobalaena campiniana is described and compared in detail, and its phylogenetic relationships are assessed by a new large-scale cladistic analysis of 246 morphological characters scored for 46 taxa. The results support a basal position of the genus Parietobalaena in the radiation of Miocene ‘cetotheres’, the monophyly of Balaenoidea (Neobalaenidae and Balaenidae), Balaenopteroidea (Eschrichtiidae and Balaenopteridae), and Cetotheriidae and the paraphyly of ‘cetotheres’s.l. The new superfamily Thalassotherii is established based on high bootstrap support and a number of morphological characters; Thalassotherii includes Balaenopteridae, Eschrichtiidae, Cetotheriidae and the basal ‘cetothere’ mysticetes with the exclusion of Balaenoidea, Eomysticetoidea and toothed mysticetes.

In 1941, Abel establishedBalaena belgicabased on a series of fused cervical vertebrae and citing other cranial fragments from the late Neogene of the Antwerp harbor (northern Belgium). Later, Plisnier-Ladame & Quinet (1969) added a neurocranium and other skeletal remains from the same area to this species. Recently, the neurocranium was re-assigned to the genusEubalaenathanks to newer phylogenetic analyses. Here, a new description is provided of materials previously assigned to “Balaena”belgicatogether with taxonomic revisions. Our work suggests that the cervical complex originally designated as the type of “Balaena”belgicais too poorly preserved to be used as such and is assigned to Balaenidae gen. et sp. indet., thus making “Balaena”belgicaa nomen dubium. In addition to the neurocranium, the other remains consist in a fragment of maxilla assigned to Balaenidae gen. et sp. indet. and in a humerus assigned toEubalaenasp. Discovered in the Kruisschans Sands Member of the Lillo Formation (3.2–2.8 Ma, Piacenzian, Late Pliocene), the neurocranium is designated as the holotype of the new speciesEubalaena ianitrix. Our phylogenetic analysis supports a sister-group relationship ofEubalaena ianitrixandEubalaena glacialis, and helps constraining the ages of origin for balaenid clades. Ecological and phylogenetic data suggest thatEubalaena ianitrixmay represent the direct ancestor ofEubalaena glacialis, the latter having evolved through phyletic transformation including body size increase during the temperature decline of the Late Pliocene.

Govender, R., Bisconti, M. & Chinsamy, A., June 2016. A late Miocene–early Pliocene baleen whale assemblage from Langebaanweg, west coast of South Africa (Mammalia, Cetacea, Mysticeti). Alcheringa 40, xxx–xxx. ISSN 0311-5518 Knowledge of post-Eocene cetaceans from Africa is very poor with almost nothing known about this group from southern Africa except for the diverse trawled ziphiids. Langebaanweg, a locality yielding prolific Miocene–Pliocene fossils on the southwestern Cape coast of South Africa, preserves terrestrial and marine biotas in juxtaposition. Palaeoenvironments vary from a marine shoreline to a lagoon and estuary and later a shallow marine environment and include several microhabitats. Fragmentary preservation of the cetacean skeletons suggests that they were transported before burial. This first detailed analysis of the Mio-Pliocene mysticete fossils from Langebaanweg uses the petrotympanic region to taxonomically identify specimens. Three un-named species of balaenopterid Mysticeti represent a Plesiobalaenoptera-like form, but it is premature to erect a new taxon based on this fragmentary material. The remaining material is too poorly preserved to be identified with confidence. Romala Govender [ rgovender@iziko. org. za ], Natural History Department, Iziko Museums of South Africa, PO Box 61, Cape Town, 8001, South Africa; Biological Sciences, University of Cape Town, Private Bag X3, Rhodes Gift, 7701, Cape Town, South Africa, Michelangelo Bisconti [ michelangelobisconti@gmail. com ], Natural History Museum of San Diego, California, 1788 El Prado, San Diego, CA 92101, USA; Anusuya Chinsamy [ anusuya. chinsamy-turan@uct. ac. za ], Biological Sciences, University of Cape Town, Private Bag X3, Rhodes Gift, 7701, Cape Town, South Africa.

Background: Balaenopterid mysticetes represent the most successful family-rank group of this clade. Their evolutionary history is characterized by a rich fossil record but the origin of the living genera is still largely not understood. Recent discoveries in the southern border of the North Sea revealed a number of well preserved fossil balaenopterid whales that may help resolving this problem. In particular, skull NMR 14035 shares morphological characters with the living humpback whale,Megaptera novaeangliaeand, for this reason, its characteristics are investigated here.Methods: The comparative anatomical analysis of the new specimen formed the basis of a new phylogenetic analysis of the Mysticeti based on a matrix including 350 morphological character states scored for 82 Operational Taxonomic Units. The stratigraphic age of the specimen was determined based on the analysis of the dinocyst assemblage recovered in the associated sediment. We assessed clade diversity in Balaenopteridae by counting the numbers of clades in given time intervals and then plotted the results.Results: Nehalaennia devossin. gen. et sp. is described for the first time from the late Tortonian (8.7–8.1 Ma) of the Westerschelde (The Netherlands). This new taxon belongs to Balaenopteridae and shows a surprisingly high number of advanced characters in the skull morphology.Nehalaennia devossiis compared to a large sample of balaenopterid mysticetes and a phylogenetic analysis placed it as the sister group of a clade including the genusArchaebalaenoptera. The inclusion of this fossil allowed to propose a phylogenetic hypothesis for Balaenopteridae in which (1) Eschrichtiidae (gray whales) represents a family of its own, (2) Balaenopteridae + Eschrichtiidae form a monophyletic group (superfamily Balaenopteroidea), (3) Cetotheriidae is the sister group of Balaenopteroidea, (4) livingBalaenopteraspecies form a monophyletic group and (5) livingM. novaeangliaeis the sister group ofBalaenoptera. Our work reveals a complex phylogenetic history of Balaenopteridae andN. devossiinforms us about the early morphological transformations in this family. Over time, this family experienced a number of diversity pulses suggesting that true evolutionary radiations had taken place. The paleoecological drivers of these pulses are then investigated.