Maiabalaena

Name: Maiabalaena ‭(‬Mother baleen whale‭)‬.
Phonetic: My-ah-bah-le-nah.
Named By: C.‭ ‬M.‭ ‬Peredo,‭ ‬N.‭ ‬D.‭ ‬Pyenson,‭ ‬C.‭ ‬D.‭ ‬Marshall‭ & ‬M.‭ ‬D.‭ ‬Uhen‭ ‬-‭ ‬2018.
Classification: Chordata,‭ ‬Mammalia,‭ ‬Artiodactyla,‭ ‬Cetacea.
Species: M.‭ ‬nesbittae‭ (‬type‭)‬.
Diet: Piscivore‭?‬/suction feeder.
Size: Skull roughly about‭ ‬1.2‭ ‬meters long.
Known locations: USA,‭ ‬Oregon‭ ‬-‭ ‬Alsea Formation.
Time period: Rupelian of the Oligocene.
Fossil representation: Partial skull.

       Maiabalaena is a genus of whale that lived in waters around North America during the Oligocene period.‭ ‬Maiabalaena is noted for having neither teeth‭ ‬nor baleen,‭ ‬with the genus describers postulating that whales may have lost teeth before developing baleen.‭ ‬Maiabalaena is thought to have been a suction feeder,‭ ‬opening its mouth wide and fast so that the vacuum created sucks in any nearby fish or other aquatic organisms into the mouth.

Further reading
-‭ ‬Tooth loss precedes the origin of baleen in whales.‭ ‬Current Biology‭ ‬28:1-9.‭ ‬-‭ ‬C.‭ ‬M.‭ ‬Peredo,‭ ‬N.‭ ‬D.‭ ‬Pyenson,‭ ‬C.‭ ‬D.‭ ‬Marshall‭ & ‬M.‭ ‬D.‭ ‬Uhen‭ ‬-‭ ‬2018.



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