Incakujira

Incakujira (meaning Inca whale) is a genus of rorqual whales that lived during the Late Miocene epoch in what are now the coasts of Peru, about 8 million to 7.3 million years ago. It contains two species, Incakujira anillodefuego and Incakujira fordycei. The type species, I. anillodefuego, was named and described in 2016. The second species was described in 2024. All known specimens have been found in the sediments of the Pisco Formation of Peru, which dates to the Late Miocene.

Incakujira Temporal range: Miocene (Tortonian-Messinian), ~8–7.3 Ma PreꞒ Ꞓ O S D C P T J K Pg N ↓
Holotype specimen exhibited at Gamagori, Japan
Scientific classification
Domain:	Eukaryota
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Mammalia
Order:	Artiodactyla
Suborder:	Whippomorpha
Infraorder:	Cetacea
Superfamily:	Balaenopteroidea
Family:	Balaenopteridae
Genus:	†Incakujira Marx & Kohno, 2016
Species
†I. anillodefuego (type) Marx & Kohno, 2016 †I. fordycei Kimura & Hasegawa, 2024

Description

Paratype specimen

Incakujira differs from other rorquals (fossil and extant) in having a less attenuated rostrum and the features of the maxilla, supraorbital, and remainder of the cranium. Kujira in the genus name means "whale" in Japanese.^[1][2]

Paleobiology

The twisted postglenoid process of the squamosal suggests that the lunge-feeding capabilities of Incakujira were not as great as those of extant rorquals, and that Incakujira itself also pursued additional krill-feeding strategies like skimming.^[1]