Eobalaenoptera harrisoni
| Eobalaenoptera harrisoni | ||||||||||||
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Skeleton of the Eobalaenoptera harrisoni |
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| Temporal occurrence | ||||||||||||
| Middle Miocene | ||||||||||||
| 15.97 to 11.62 million years | ||||||||||||
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| Systematics | ||||||||||||
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| Scientific name of the genus | ||||||||||||
| Eobalaenoptera | ||||||||||||
| Dooley , Fraser & Luo , 2004 | ||||||||||||
| Scientific name of the species | ||||||||||||
| Eobalaenoptera harrisoni | ||||||||||||
| Dooley , Fraser & Luo , 2004 | ||||||||||||
Eobalaenoptera harrisoni is an extinct species of the baleen whale (Mysticeti) within the whale (Cetacea). It was only described in 2004 by researchers at the Virginia Museum of Natural History using skeletal parts found in 1990 in the Miocene Calvert Formation in Coroline County , Virginia .
features
According to the researchers, the eleven-meter-long skeleton has both morphological features of the furrow whales (Balaenopteridae) and gray whales (Eschtrichtiidae) and thus supports the sister group relationship of these two taxa . The age of the skeleton was estimated at about 14 million years and it is the oldest known fossil of the taxon of the gray and furrow whales. The separation of this group from the other baleen whales was based on molecular biological investigations ( molecular clock ) to a point in time Estimated 25 million years ago.
The name was given due to the similarities between the skeleton and representatives of the genus Balaenoptera , the prefix eo identifies it as the forerunner of this group. The species was named after Carter Harrisson, an honored employee of the museum.