Miobalaenoptera

Miobalaenoptera is an extinct genus of rorqual from the Late Miocene (Messinian) of Japan.

Miobalaenoptera Temporal range: Messinian ~6.8–6.5 Ma PreꞒ Ꞓ O S D C P T J K Pg N ↓
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Mammalia
Order:	Artiodactyla
Suborder:	Whippomorpha
Infraorder:	Cetacea
Family:	Balaenopteridae
Genus:	†Miobalaenoptera Tanaka and Watanabe, 2019
Species
M. numataensis Tanaka and Watanabe, 2019 (type)

Description

Miobalaenoptera is distinguished from other rorquals (both extinct and extant) in the features of the earbone (incl. periotic) as well strongly diverging basioccipital crests^[1]

The holotype specimen was found in marine deposits in Numata town, Hokkaido, Japan. It was initially assigned to Balaenoptera cf. acutorostrata by Shinohara (2012) and thought to be Pliocene in age, but analysis of diatoms in the matrix and preparation showed it to not only late Miocene but also a distinct species of extinct rorqual.^[2][3][4]