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The Earliest Gulp-Feeding Mysticete (Cetacea: Mysticeti) from the Oligocene of New Zealand

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Abstract

Horopeta umarere is a new genus and species of extinct baleen whales from the Kokoamu Greensand (early Chattian, Oligocene, in the range 25–27 Ma), Hakataramea Valley, New Zealand. The geological age makes Horopeta umarere one of the earliest named baleen whales. Phylogenetic analysis indicates that Horopeta umarere may be the earliest crown Mysticeti (the sister taxon to Cetotheriidae), or the sister species to the crown Mysticeti; it is clearly not a species of Eomysticetidae. Estimated skull and body length of Horopeta umarere are 1.5-1.6 m and 6.5-7.5 m, respectively. Horopeta umarere shows some features that are linked to gulp feeding as seen in living humpback and rorquals: laterally bowed and robust mandible, D-shaped to teardrop-shaped mandible in cross-section, and posterolaterally deflected triangular coronoid process of the mandible. The sternum of Horopeta umarere is elongate, rod-shaped, and dorsoventrally stout with bilateral anterior and posterior rugose protrusions, indicating the presence of at least two pairs of ribs or costal cartilages. The structure of the skull and mandible are consistent with the use of gulp feeding, but the sternal morphology and rib attachments suggest an early evolutionary stage in gulp feeding employment, where more complex rib attachment may restrict the volume of water and food taken in one gulp compared to living humpback and rorquals. Thus, the morphology of Horopeta umarere has implications for the emergence of gulp feeding in baleen whale evolution as well as the emergence of the crown Mysticeti.

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Acknowledgments

We thank Foveran Station and Haughs’ quarry operators for access and permission to collect OU21982; the late A. Grebneff and C. M. Jones for helping REF collect OU21982; A. Grebneff for initial preparation; S. E. White for assisting CHT in finalizing the preparation; J. Mead, C. Potter, J. Ososky, N. Pyenson, D. Bohaska (National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution, USA), J. Dines, D. Janiger (Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County, USA), A. Stewart, T. Schultz (National Museum of New Zealand, NZ), E. Fitzgerald, K. Roberts (Museum Victoria, Australia), T. Yamada, N. Kohno, Y. Tajima (National Museum of Nature and Science, Japan), C. Kemper, D. Stemmer, N. Pledge, M.-A. Binnie (South Australian Museum, Australia), E. Westwig (American Museum of Natural History, USA), P. Holroyd (University of California Museum of Paleontology, USA), A. Sanders (The Charleston Museum, USA) for access to collections and allowing photography during CHT’s and/or REF’s visits. We thank O. Lambert and J. Geisler for constructive reviews and comments; the editor, J. R. Wible, for helpful advice; G. Aguirre-Fernandez, F. G. Marx, R. Boessenecker, Y. Tanaka, and J. Corrie for discussion; S. E. White for discussion of Maori. CHT thanks J. Mead (Washington DC), R. Boessenecker (California), E. Fitzgerald, K. Roberts (Melbourne), F. Marx, I. Aguirre (Tsukuba), and A. Fukumoto (Yokohama) for accommodations during various research trips. This study is part of CHT’s PhD thesis and funded by a University of Otago Doctoral Scholarship. Grants 3542–87 and 3657–87 from the National Geographic Society to REF supported field and laboratory work on OU21982.

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This work has not been submitted to more than one journal for consideration simultaneously, and this work has not been published previously elsewhere.

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  1. Department of Geology, University of Otago, Dunedin, 9054, New Zealand

    Cheng-Hsiu Tsai & R. Ewan Fordyce

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  1. Cheng-Hsiu Tsai
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Correspondence to Cheng-Hsiu Tsai.

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Tsai, CH., Fordyce, R.E. The Earliest Gulp-Feeding Mysticete (Cetacea: Mysticeti) from the Oligocene of New Zealand. J Mammal Evol 22, 535–560 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10914-015-9290-0

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