1
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Lanzetti A, Portela-Miguez R, Fernandez V, Goswami A. Testing heterochrony: Connecting skull shape ontogeny and evolution of feeding adaptations in baleen whales. Evol Dev 2023; 25:257-273. [PMID: 37259250 DOI: 10.1111/ede.12447] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/10/2023] [Revised: 05/11/2023] [Accepted: 05/17/2023] [Indexed: 06/02/2023]
Abstract
Ontogeny plays a key role in the evolution of organisms, as changes during the complex processes of development can allow for new traits to arise. Identifying changes in ontogenetic allometry-the relationship between skull shape and size during growth-can reveal the processes underlying major evolutionary transformations. Baleen whales (Mysticeti, Cetacea) underwent major morphological changes in transitioning from their ancestral raptorial feeding mode to the three specialized filter-feeding modes observed in extant taxa. Heterochronic processes have been implicated in the evolution of these feeding modes, and their associated specialized cranial morphologies, but their role has never been tested with quantitative data. Here, we quantified skull shapes ontogeny and reconstructed ancestral allometric trajectories using 3D geometric morphometrics and phylogenetic comparative methods on sample representing modern mysticetes diversity. Our results demonstrate that Mysticeti, while having a common developmental trajectory, present distinct cranial shapes from early in their ontogeny corresponding to their different feeding ecologies. Size is the main driver of shape disparity across mysticetes. Disparate heterochronic processes are evident in the evolution of the group: skim feeders present accelerated growth relative to the ancestral nodes, while Balaenopteridae have overall slower growth, or pedomorphosis. Gray whales are the only taxon with a relatively faster rate of growth in this group, which might be connected to its unique benthic feeding strategy. Reconstructed ancestral allometries and related skull shapes indicate that extinct taxa used less specialized filter-feeding modes, a finding broadly in line with the available fossil evidence.
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Affiliation(s)
- Agnese Lanzetti
- School of Geography, Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of Birmingham, Birmingham, UK
- Department of Life Sciences, Natural History Museum, London, UK
| | | | | | - Anjali Goswami
- Department of Life Sciences, Natural History Museum, London, UK
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2
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Unterberger SH, Berger C, Schirmer M, Pallua AK, Zelger B, Schäfer G, Kremser C, Degenhart G, Spiegl H, Erler S, Putzer D, Arora R, Parson W, Pallua JD. Morphological and Tissue Characterization with 3D Reconstruction of a 350-Year-Old Austrian Ardea purpurea Glacier Mummy. BIOLOGY 2023; 12:biology12010114. [PMID: 36671806 PMCID: PMC9855678 DOI: 10.3390/biology12010114] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/22/2022] [Revised: 01/06/2023] [Accepted: 01/09/2023] [Indexed: 01/12/2023]
Abstract
Glaciers are dwindling archives, releasing animal mummies preserved in the ice for centuries due to climate changes. As preservation varies, residual soft tissues may differently expand the biological information content of such mummies. DNA studies have proven the possibility of extracting and analyzing DNA preserved in skeletal residuals and sediments for hundreds or thousands of years. Paleoradiology is the method of choice as a non-destructive tool for analyzing mummies, including micro-computed tomography (micro-CT) and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). Together with radiocarbon dating, histo-anatomical analyses, and DNA sequencing, these techniques were employed to identify a 350-year-old Austrian Ardea purpurea glacier mummy from the Ötztal Alps. Combining these techniques proved to be a robust methodological concept for collecting inaccessible information regarding the structural organization of the mummy. The variety of methodological approaches resulted in a distinct picture of the morphological patterns of the glacier animal mummy. The BLAST search in GenBank resulted in a 100% and 98.7% match in the cytb gene sequence with two entries of the species Purple heron (Ardea purpurea; Accession number KJ941160.1 and KJ190948.1) and a 98% match with the same species for the 16 s sequence (KJ190948.1), which was confirmed by the anatomic characteristics deduced from micro-CT and MRI.
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Affiliation(s)
- Seraphin H. Unterberger
- Material-Technology, Leopold-Franzens University Innsbruck, Technikerstraße 13, 6020 Innsbruck, Austria
| | - Cordula Berger
- Institute of Legal Medicine, Medical University of Innsbruck, Muellerstraße 44, 6020 Innsbruck, Austria
| | - Michael Schirmer
- Department of Internal Medicine, Clinic II, Medical University of Innsbruck, Anichstrasse 35, 6020 Innsbruck, Austria
| | - Anton Kasper Pallua
- Former Institute for Computed Tomography-Neuro CT, Medical University of Innsbruck, Anichstraße 35, 6020 Innsbruck, Austria
| | - Bettina Zelger
- Institute of Pathology, Neuropathology, and Molecular Pathology, Medical University of Innsbruck, Muellerstrasse 44, 6020 Innsbruck, Austria
| | - Georg Schäfer
- Institute of Pathology, Neuropathology, and Molecular Pathology, Medical University of Innsbruck, Muellerstrasse 44, 6020 Innsbruck, Austria
| | - Christian Kremser
- Department of Radiology, Medical University of Innsbruck, Anichstraße 35, 6020 Innsbruck, Austria
| | - Gerald Degenhart
- Department of Radiology, Medical University of Innsbruck, Anichstraße 35, 6020 Innsbruck, Austria
| | - Harald Spiegl
- WESTCAM Datentechnik GmbH, Gewerbepark 38, 6068 Mils, Austria
| | - Simon Erler
- WESTCAM Datentechnik GmbH, Gewerbepark 38, 6068 Mils, Austria
| | - David Putzer
- University Hospital for Orthopaedics and Traumatology, Medical University of Innsbruck, Anichstraße 35, 6020 Innsbruck, Austria
| | - Rohit Arora
- University Hospital for Orthopaedics and Traumatology, Medical University of Innsbruck, Anichstraße 35, 6020 Innsbruck, Austria
| | - Walther Parson
- Institute of Legal Medicine, Medical University of Innsbruck, Muellerstraße 44, 6020 Innsbruck, Austria
- Forensic Science Program, The Pennsylvania State University, State College, PA 16801, USA
| | - Johannes Dominikus Pallua
- Institute of Legal Medicine, Medical University of Innsbruck, Muellerstraße 44, 6020 Innsbruck, Austria
- Institute of Pathology, Neuropathology, and Molecular Pathology, Medical University of Innsbruck, Muellerstrasse 44, 6020 Innsbruck, Austria
- University Hospital for Orthopaedics and Traumatology, Medical University of Innsbruck, Anichstraße 35, 6020 Innsbruck, Austria
- Correspondence:
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3
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Kast ER, Griffiths ML, Kim SL, Rao ZC, Shimada K, Becker MA, Maisch HM, Eagle RA, Clarke CA, Neumann AN, Karnes ME, Lüdecke T, Leichliter JN, Martínez-García A, Akhtar AA, Wang XT, Haug GH, Sigman DM. Cenozoic megatooth sharks occupied extremely high trophic positions. SCIENCE ADVANCES 2022; 8:eabl6529. [PMID: 35731884 PMCID: PMC9217088 DOI: 10.1126/sciadv.abl6529] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/29/2021] [Accepted: 05/05/2022] [Indexed: 06/15/2023]
Abstract
Trophic position is a fundamental characteristic of animals, yet it is unknown in many extinct species. In this study, we ground-truth the 15N/14N ratio of enameloid-bound organic matter (δ15NEB) as a trophic level proxy by comparison to dentin collagen δ15N and apply this method to the fossil record to reconstruct the trophic level of the megatooth sharks (genus Otodus). These sharks evolved in the Cenozoic, culminating in Otodus megalodon, a shark with a maximum body size of more than 15 m, which went extinct 3.5 million years ago. Very high δ15NEB values (22.9 ± 4.4‰) of O. megalodon from the Miocene and Pliocene show that it occupied a higher trophic level than is known for any marine species, extinct or extant. δ15NEB also indicates a dietary shift in sharks of the megatooth lineage as they evolved toward the gigantic O. megalodon, with the highest trophic level apparently reached earlier than peak size.
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Affiliation(s)
- Emma R. Kast
- Department of Geosciences, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ 08544, USA
- Department of Earth Sciences, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, CB23EQ, UK
| | - Michael L. Griffiths
- Department of Environmental Science, William Paterson University of New Jersey, Wayne, NJ 07470, USA
| | - Sora L. Kim
- Department of Life and Environmental Sciences, University of California Merced, Merced, CA 95343, USA
| | - Zixuan C. Rao
- Department of Geosciences, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ 08544, USA
| | - Kenshu Shimada
- Department of Environmental Science and Studies, DePaul University, Chicago, IL 60614, USA
- Department of Biological Sciences, DePaul University, Chicago, IL 60614, USA
- Sternberg Museum of Natural History, Fort Hays State University, Hays, KS 67601, USA
| | - Martin A. Becker
- Department of Environmental Science, William Paterson University of New Jersey, Wayne, NJ 07470, USA
| | - Harry M. Maisch
- Department of Marine and Earth Sciences, Florida Gulf Coast University, Fort Myers, FL 33965, USA
| | - Robert A. Eagle
- Department of Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciences. Institute of the Environment and Sustainability, University of California, Los Angeles, CA 90095, USA
| | - Chelesia A. Clarke
- Department of Environmental Science, William Paterson University of New Jersey, Wayne, NJ 07470, USA
| | - Allison N. Neumann
- Department of Environmental Science, William Paterson University of New Jersey, Wayne, NJ 07470, USA
| | - Molly E. Karnes
- Department of Life and Environmental Sciences, University of California Merced, Merced, CA 95343, USA
| | - Tina Lüdecke
- Emmy Noether Group for Hominin Meat Consumption, Max Planck Institute for Chemistry, 55128 Mainz, Germany
- Senckenberg Biodiversity and Climate Research Centre, 60325 Frankfurt, Germany
| | - Jennifer N. Leichliter
- Emmy Noether Group for Hominin Meat Consumption, Max Planck Institute for Chemistry, 55128 Mainz, Germany
- Johannes Gutenberg University, Institute of Geosciences, 55128 Mainz, Germany
| | - Alfredo Martínez-García
- Department of Climate Geochemistry, Max Planck Institute for Chemistry, 55128 Mainz, Germany
| | - Alliya A. Akhtar
- Department of Geosciences, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ 08544, USA
| | - Xingchen T. Wang
- Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences, Boston College, Chestnut Hill, MA 02467, USA
| | - Gerald H. Haug
- Department of Climate Geochemistry, Max Planck Institute for Chemistry, 55128 Mainz, Germany
- Department of Earth Sciences, ETH Zürich, CH-8092 Zürich, Switzerland
| | - Daniel M. Sigman
- Department of Geosciences, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ 08544, USA
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Vertebrate Palaeoecology of the Pisco Formation (Miocene, Peru): Glimpses into the Ancient Humboldt Current Ecosystem. JOURNAL OF MARINE SCIENCE AND ENGINEERING 2021. [DOI: 10.3390/jmse9111188] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 02/07/2023]
Abstract
The northward-flowing Humboldt Current hosts perpetually high levels of productivity along the western coast of South America. Here, we aim to elucidate the deep-time history of this globally important ecosystem based on a detailed palaeoecological analysis of the exceptionally preserved middle–upper Miocene vertebrate assemblages of the Pisco Formation of the East Pisco Basin, southern Peru. We summarise observations on hundreds of fossil whales, dolphins, seals, seabirds, turtles, crocodiles, sharks, rays, and bony fishes to reconstruct ecological relationships in the wake of the Middle Miocene Climatic Optimum, and the marked cooling that followed it. The lowermost, middle Miocene Pisco sequence (P0) and its vertebrate assemblage testify to a warm, semi-enclosed, near-shore palaeoenvironment. During the first part of the Tortonian (P1), high productivity within a prominent upwelling system supported a diverse assemblage of mesopredators, at least some of which permanently resided in the Pisco embayment and used it as a nursery or breeding/calving area. Younger portions of the Pisco Formation (P2) reveal a more open setting, with wide-ranging species like rorquals increasingly dominating the vertebrate assemblage, but also local differences reflecting distance from the coast. Like today, these ancient precursors of the modern Humboldt Current Ecosystem were based on sardines, but notably differed from their present-day equivalent in being dominated by extremely large-bodied apex predators like Livyatan melvillei and Carcharocles megalodon.
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Bisconti M, Pellegrino L, Carnevale G. Evolution of gigantism in right and bowhead whales (Cetacea: Mysticeti: Balaenidae). Biol J Linn Soc Lond 2021. [DOI: 10.1093/biolinnean/blab086] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/13/2022]
Abstract
Abstract
The evolution of gigantic body size represents a key to understand the ecological role of baleen whales in oceanic ecosystems. Many efforts have been devoted to the formulation of equations relating different body parts to total body length and mass in living and fossil mysticetes, mainly focusing on balaenopterid and balaenopterid-like mysticetes. Right whales (family Balaenidae) have a unique head-to-body length ratio, suggesting that their body proportions cannot be predicted effectively using equations based primarily on non-balaenid mysticetes. A new morphometric dataset of living and fossil balaenids is provided herein, and new regression equations allow one to predict the body length and mass of extinct species based on the expected head-to-body length ratio of extant balaenids. The reconstructed values are mapped on a new phylogenetic analysis of the Balaenidae, inferring body size and mass at ancestral nodes. The variations of body size and mass in Balaenidae since the early Miocene are reconstructed, revealing that: (1) a reduction in total body length occurred in the early Pliocene; (2) the origin of the gigantic body size in the bowhead whale (Balaena mysticetus) is probably related to invasion of the Arctic Ocean in the last 3 Myr; and (3) the origin of the gigantic body size in the right whales (genus Eubalaena) occurred since the latest Miocene, probably concomitant with pulses of nutrients sustaining large zooplankton populations. We suggest that the evolution of gigantism in Balaenidae occurred independently in two lineages and, probably, in response to different palaeoenvironmental drivers.
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Affiliation(s)
- Michelangelo Bisconti
- Dipartimento di Scienze della Terra, Università degli Studi di Torino, via Valperga Caluso 35, 10125, Torino, Italy
- San Diego Natural History Museum, 1788 El Prado, San Diego, CA 92101, USA
| | - Luca Pellegrino
- Dipartimento di Scienze della Terra, Università degli Studi di Torino, via Valperga Caluso 35, 10125, Torino, Italy
| | - Giorgio Carnevale
- Dipartimento di Scienze della Terra, Università degli Studi di Torino, via Valperga Caluso 35, 10125, Torino, Italy
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6
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Bosio G, Collareta A, Di Celma C, Lambert O, Marx FG, de Muizon C, Gioncada A, Gariboldi K, Malinverno E, Malca RV, Urbina M, Bianucci G. Taphonomy of marine vertebrates of the Pisco Formation (Miocene, Peru): Insights into the origin of an outstanding Fossil-Lagerstätte. PLoS One 2021; 16:e0254395. [PMID: 34264979 PMCID: PMC8282071 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0254395] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/17/2021] [Accepted: 06/28/2021] [Indexed: 11/23/2022] Open
Abstract
The Miocene Pisco Formation, broadly exposed in the Ica Desert of southern Peru, is among the most outstanding Cenozoic marine Fossil-Lagerstätten worldwide. It is renowned for its exceptional preservation and abundance of vertebrate fossils, including a rich assemblage of whales and dolphins (Cetacea). Here, we integrate taphonomic data on 890 marine vertebrate fossils, gathered through 16 different localities. Our observations range from the taxonomic distribution, articulation, completeness, disposition and orientation of skeletons, to the presence of bite marks, associations with shark teeth and macro-invertebrates, bone and soft tissue preservation, and the formation of attendant carbonate concretions and sedimentary structures. We propose that the exceptional preservation characterising many Pisco vertebrates, as well as their exceptionally high abundance, cannot be ascribed to a single cause like high sedimentation rates (as proposed in the past), but rather to the interplay of several favourable factors including: (i) low levels of dissolved oxygen at the seafloor (with the intervention of seasonal anoxic events); (ii) the early onset of mineralisation processes like apatite dissolution/recrystallisation and carbonate mineral precipitation; (iii) rapid burial of carcasses in a soupy substrate and/or a novel mechanism involving scour-induced self-burial; and (iv) original biological richness. Collectively, our observations provide a comprehensive overview of the taphonomic processes that shaped one of South America’s most important fossil deposits, and suggest a model for the formation of other marine vertebrate Fossil-Lagerstätten.
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Affiliation(s)
- Giulia Bosio
- Dipartimento di Scienze dell’Ambiente e della Terra, Università degli Studi di Milano-Bicocca, Milan, Italy
| | - Alberto Collareta
- Dipartimento di Scienze della Terra, Università di Pisa, Pisa, Italy
- * E-mail:
| | - Claudio Di Celma
- Scuola di Scienze e Tecnologie, Università di Camerino, Camerino, Italy
| | - Olivier Lambert
- D.O. Terre et Histoire de la Vie, Institut Royal des Sciences Naturelles de Belgique, Bruxelles, Belgium
| | - Felix G. Marx
- Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa, Wellington, New Zealand
- Department of Geology, University of Otago, Dunedin, New Zealand
| | - Christian de Muizon
- Département Origines et Evolution, CR2P UMR 7207, (MNHN, CNRS, UPMC, Sorbonne-Université), Muséum national d’Histoire naturelle, Paris, France
| | - Anna Gioncada
- Dipartimento di Scienze della Terra, Università di Pisa, Pisa, Italy
| | - Karen Gariboldi
- Dipartimento di Scienze della Terra, Università di Pisa, Pisa, Italy
| | - Elisa Malinverno
- Dipartimento di Scienze dell’Ambiente e della Terra, Università degli Studi di Milano-Bicocca, Milan, Italy
| | - Rafael Varas Malca
- Departamento de Paleontologia de Vertebrados, Museo de Historia Natural-UNMSM, Lima, Peru
| | - Mario Urbina
- Departamento de Paleontologia de Vertebrados, Museo de Historia Natural-UNMSM, Lima, Peru
| | - Giovanni Bianucci
- Dipartimento di Scienze della Terra, Università di Pisa, Pisa, Italy
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7
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Bianucci G, de Muizon C, Urbina M, Lambert O. Extensive Diversity and Disparity of the Early Miocene Platanistoids (Cetacea, Odontoceti) in the Southeastern Pacific (Chilcatay Formation, Peru). Life (Basel) 2020; 10:life10030027. [PMID: 32197480 PMCID: PMC7151620 DOI: 10.3390/life10030027] [Citation(s) in RCA: 16] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/14/2020] [Revised: 03/14/2020] [Accepted: 03/16/2020] [Indexed: 11/27/2022] Open
Abstract
Several aspects of the fascinating evolutionary history of toothed and baleen whales (Cetacea) are still to be clarified due to the fragmentation and discontinuity (in space and time) of the fossil record. Here we open a window on the past, describing a part of the extraordinary cetacean fossil assemblage deposited in a restricted interval of time (19–18 Ma) in the Chilcatay Formation (Peru). All the fossils here examined belong to the Platanistoidea clade as here redefined, a toothed whale group nowadays represented only by the Asian river dolphin Platanista gangetica. Two new genera and species, the hyper-longirostrine Ensidelphis riveroi and the squalodelphinid Furcacetus flexirostrum, are described together with new material referred to the squalodelphinid Notocetus vanbenedeni and fragmentary remains showing affinities with the platanistid Araeodelphis. Our cladistic analysis defines the new clade Platanidelphidi, sister-group to Allodelphinidae and including E. riveroi and the clade Squalodelphinidae + Platanistidae. The fossils here examined further confirm the high diversity and disparity of platanistoids during the early Miocene. Finally, morphofunctional considerations on the entire platanistoid assemblage of the Chilcatay Formation suggest a high trophic partitioning of this peculiar cetacean paleocommunity.
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Affiliation(s)
- Giovanni Bianucci
- Dipartimento di Scienze della Terra, Università di Pisa, 56126 Pisa, Italy
- Correspondence:
| | - Christian de Muizon
- CR2P (CNRS, MNHN, SU), Muséum National d’Histoire Naturelle, Département Origines et Évolution, 75005 Paris, France;
| | - Mario Urbina
- Departamento de Paleontología de Vertebrados, Museo de Historia Natural de la Universidad Nacional Mayor de San Marcos, Lima 15072, Peru;
| | - Olivier Lambert
- Institut Royal des Sciences Naturelles de Belgique, D.O. Terre et Histoire de la Vie, 1000 Brussels, Belgium
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8
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Marx FG, Post K, Bosselaers M, Munsterman DK. A large Late Miocene cetotheriid (Cetacea, Mysticeti) from the Netherlands clarifies the status of Tranatocetidae. PeerJ 2019; 7:e6426. [PMID: 30783574 PMCID: PMC6377596 DOI: 10.7717/peerj.6426] [Citation(s) in RCA: 13] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/26/2018] [Accepted: 01/09/2019] [Indexed: 11/20/2022] Open
Abstract
Cetotheriidae are a group of small baleen whales (Mysticeti) that evolved alongside modern rorquals. They once enjoyed a nearly global distribution, but then largely went extinct during the Plio-Pleistocene. After languishing as a wastebasket taxon for more than a century, the concept of Cetotheriidae is now well established. Nevertheless, the clade remains notable for its variability, and its scope remains in flux. In particular, the recent referral of several traditional cetotheriids to a new and seemingly unrelated family, Tranatocetidae, has created major phylogenetic uncertainty. Here, we describe a new species of Tranatocetus, the type of Tranatocetidae, from the Late Miocene of the Netherlands. Tranatocetus maregermanicum sp. nov. clarifies several of the traits previously ascribed to this genus, and reveals distinctive auditory and mandibular morphologies suggesting cetotheriid affinities. This interpretation is supported by a large phylogenetic analysis, which mingles cetotheriids and tranatocetids within a unified clade. As a result, we suggest that both groups should be reintegrated into the single family Cetotheriidae.
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Affiliation(s)
- Felix G Marx
- Department of Geology, Université de Liège, Liège, Belgium.,Directorate of Earth and History of Life, Royal Belgian Institute of Natural Sciences, Brussels, Belgium.,Palaeontology, Museums Victoria, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia.,School of Biological Sciences, Monash University, Clayton, Victoria, Australia
| | - Klaas Post
- Natuurhistorisch Museum, Rotterdam, The Netherlands
| | - Mark Bosselaers
- Directorate of Earth and History of Life, Royal Belgian Institute of Natural Sciences, Brussels, Belgium.,Zeeland Royal Society of Sciences, Middelburg, The Netherlands
| | - Dirk K Munsterman
- Netherlands Institute of Applied Geoscience TNO - National Geological Survey, Utrecht, The Netherlands
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9
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Voss M, Antar MSM, Zalmout IS, Gingerich PD. Stomach contents of the archaeocete Basilosaurus isis: Apex predator in oceans of the late Eocene. PLoS One 2019; 14:e0209021. [PMID: 30625131 PMCID: PMC6326415 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0209021] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/27/2018] [Accepted: 11/27/2018] [Indexed: 11/19/2022] Open
Abstract
Apex predators live at the top of an ecological pyramid, preying on animals in the pyramid below and normally immune from predation themselves. Apex predators are often, but not always, the largest animals of their kind. The living killer whale Orcinus orca is an apex predator in modern world oceans. Here we focus on an earlier apex predator, the late Eocene archaeocete Basilosaurus isis from Wadi Al Hitan in Egypt, and show from stomach contents that it fed on smaller whales (juvenile Dorudon atrox) and large fishes (Pycnodus mokattamensis). Our observations, the first direct evidence of diet in Basilosaurus isis, confirm a predator-prey relationship of the two most frequently found fossil whales in Wadi Al-Hitan, B. isis and D. atrox. This extends our understanding of their paleoecology. Late Eocene Basilosaurus isis, late Miocene Livyatan melvillei, and modern Orcinus orca are three marine apex predators known from relatively short intervals of time. Little is known about whales as apex predators through much of the Cenozoic era, and whales as apex predators deserve more attention than they have received.
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Affiliation(s)
- Manja Voss
- Museum für Naturkunde Berlin, Leibniz-Institute for Evolution and Biodiversity Science, Berlin, Germany
- * E-mail:
| | - Mohammed Sameh M. Antar
- Department of Geology and Paleontology, Nature Conservation Sector, Egyptian Environmental Affairs Agency, Cairo, Egypt
| | - Iyad S. Zalmout
- Museum of Paleontology, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan, United States of America
| | - Philip D. Gingerich
- Museum of Paleontology, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan, United States of America
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10
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Gutiérrez Y, Ott D, Töpperwien M, Salditt T, Scherber C. X-ray computed tomography and its potential in ecological research: A review of studies and optimization of specimen preparation. Ecol Evol 2018; 8:7717-7732. [PMID: 30151184 PMCID: PMC6106166 DOI: 10.1002/ece3.4149] [Citation(s) in RCA: 23] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/12/2017] [Revised: 04/04/2018] [Accepted: 04/09/2018] [Indexed: 12/15/2022] Open
Abstract
Imaging techniques are a cornerstone of contemporary biology. Over the last decades, advances in microscale imaging techniques have allowed fascinating new insights into cell and tissue morphology and internal anatomy of organisms across kingdoms. However, most studies so far provided snapshots of given reference taxa, describing organs and tissues under "idealized" conditions. Surprisingly, there is an almost complete lack of studies investigating how an organism's internal morphology changes in response to environmental drivers. Consequently, ecology as a scientific discipline has so far almost neglected the possibilities arising from modern microscale imaging techniques. Here, we provide an overview of recent developments of X-ray computed tomography as an affordable, simple method of high spatial resolution, allowing insights into three-dimensional anatomy both in vivo and ex vivo. We review ecological studies using this technique to investigate the three-dimensional internal structure of organisms. In addition, we provide practical comparisons between different preparation techniques for maximum contrast and tissue differentiation. In particular, we consider the novel modality of phase contrast by self-interference of the X-ray wave behind an object (i.e., phase contrast by free space propagation). Using the cricket Acheta domesticus (L.) as model organism, we found that the combination of FAE fixative and iodine staining provided the best results across different tissues. The drying technique also affected contrast and prevented artifacts in specific cases. Overall, we found that for the interests of ecological studies, X-ray computed tomography is useful when the tissue or structure of interest has sufficient contrast that allows for an automatic or semiautomatic segmentation. In particular, we show that reconstruction schemes which exploit phase contrast can yield enhanced image quality. Combined with suitable specimen preparation and automated analysis, X-ray CT can therefore become a promising quantitative 3D imaging technique to study organisms' responses to environmental drivers, in both ecology and evolution.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - David Ott
- Institute of Landscape EcologyUniversity of MünsterMünsterGermany
| | | | - Tim Salditt
- Institute for X‐Ray PhysicsUniversity of GöttingenGöttingenGermany
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11
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Slater GJ, Goldbogen JA, Pyenson ND. Independent evolution of baleen whale gigantism linked to Plio-Pleistocene ocean dynamics. Proc Biol Sci 2018; 284:rspb.2017.0546. [PMID: 28539520 PMCID: PMC5454272 DOI: 10.1098/rspb.2017.0546] [Citation(s) in RCA: 91] [Impact Index Per Article: 15.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/14/2017] [Accepted: 04/13/2017] [Indexed: 11/29/2022] Open
Abstract
Vertebrates have evolved to gigantic sizes repeatedly over the past 250 Myr, reaching their extreme in today's baleen whales (Mysticeti). Hypotheses for the evolution of exceptionally large size in mysticetes range from niche partitioning to predator avoidance, but there has been no quantitative examination of body size evolutionary dynamics in this clade and it remains unclear when, why or how gigantism evolved. By fitting phylogenetic macroevolutionary models to a dataset consisting of living and extinct species, we show that mysticetes underwent a clade-wide shift in their mode of body size evolution during the Plio-Pleistocene. This transition, from Brownian motion-like dynamics to a trended random walk towards larger size, is temporally linked to the onset of seasonally intensified upwelling along coastal ecosystems. High prey densities resulting from wind-driven upwelling, rather than abundant resources alone, are the primary determinant of efficient foraging in extant mysticetes and Late Pliocene changes in ocean dynamics may have provided an ecological pathway to gigantism in multiple independent lineages.
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Affiliation(s)
- Graham J Slater
- Department of the Geophysical Sciences, University of Chicago, Chicago, IL, USA
| | - Jeremy A Goldbogen
- Department of Biology, Hopkins Marine Station, Stanford University, Pacific Grove, CA, USA
| | - Nicholas D Pyenson
- Department of Paleobiology, National Museum of Natural History, Washington, DC, USA
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12
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Marx FG, Collareta A, Gioncada A, Post K, Lambert O, Bonaccorsi E, Urbina M, Bianucci G. How whales used to filter: exceptionally preserved baleen in a Miocene cetotheriid. J Anat 2017; 231:212-220. [PMID: 28542839 PMCID: PMC5522891 DOI: 10.1111/joa.12622] [Citation(s) in RCA: 27] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 03/15/2017] [Indexed: 11/30/2022] Open
Abstract
Baleen is a comb-like structure that enables mysticete whales to bulk feed on vast quantities of small prey, and ultimately allowed them to become the largest animals on Earth. Because baleen rarely fossilises, extremely little is known about its evolution, structure and function outside the living families. Here we describe, for the first time, the exceptionally preserved baleen apparatus of an entirely extinct mysticete morphotype: the Late Miocene cetotheriid, Piscobalaena nana, from the Pisco Formation of Peru. The baleen plates of P. nana are closely spaced and built around relatively dense, fine tubules, as in the enigmatic pygmy right whale, Caperea marginata. Phosphatisation of the intertubular horn, but not the tubules themselves, suggests in vivo intertubular calcification. The size of the rack matches the distribution of nutrient foramina on the palate, and implies the presence of an unusually large subrostral gap. Overall, the baleen morphology of Piscobalaena likely reflects the interacting effects of size, function and phylogeny, and reveals a previously unknown degree of complexity in modern mysticete feeding evolution.
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Affiliation(s)
- Felix G Marx
- School of Biological Sciences, Monash University, Clayton, Vic., Australia.,Geosciences, Museum Victoria, Melbourne, Vic., Australia.,D.O. Terre et Histoire de la Vie, Institut Royal des Sciences Naturelles de Belgique, Brussels, Belgium
| | - Alberto Collareta
- Dipartimento di Scienze della Terra, Università di Pisa, Pisa, Italy.,Dottorato Regionale in Scienze della Terra Pegaso, Pisa, Italy
| | - Anna Gioncada
- Dipartimento di Scienze della Terra, Università di Pisa, Pisa, Italy
| | - Klaas Post
- Natuurhistorisch Museum Rotterdam, Rotterdam, The Netherlands
| | - Olivier Lambert
- D.O. Terre et Histoire de la Vie, Institut Royal des Sciences Naturelles de Belgique, Brussels, Belgium
| | - Elena Bonaccorsi
- Dipartimento di Scienze della Terra, Università di Pisa, Pisa, Italy
| | - Mario Urbina
- Departamento de Paleontología de Vertebrados, Museo de Historia Natural de la Universidad Nacional Mayor de San Marcos, Lima, Peru
| | - Giovanni Bianucci
- Dipartimento di Scienze della Terra, Università di Pisa, Pisa, Italy
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13
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Marx FG, Kohno N. A new Miocene baleen whale from the Peruvian desert. ROYAL SOCIETY OPEN SCIENCE 2016; 3:160542. [PMID: 27853573 PMCID: PMC5098998 DOI: 10.1098/rsos.160542] [Citation(s) in RCA: 19] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/25/2016] [Accepted: 09/05/2016] [Indexed: 05/13/2023]
Abstract
The Pisco-Ica and Sacaco basins of southern Peru are renowned for their abundance of exceptionally preserved fossil cetaceans, several of which retain traces of soft tissue and occasionally even stomach contents. Previous work has mostly focused on odontocetes, with baleen whales currently being restricted to just three described taxa. Here, we report a new Late Miocene rorqual (family Balaenopteridae), Incakujira anillodefuego gen. et sp. nov., based on two exceptionally preserved specimens from the Pisco Formation exposed at Aguada de Lomas, Sacaco Basin, southern Peru. Incakujira overall closely resembles modern balaenopterids, but stands out for its unusually gracile ascending process of the maxilla, as well as a markedly twisted postglenoid process of the squamosal. The latter likely impeded lateral (omega) rotation of the mandible, in stark contrast with the highly flexible craniomandibular joint of extant lunge-feeding rorquals. Overall, Incakujira expands the still meagre Miocene record of balaenopterids and reveals a previously underappreciated degree of complexity in the evolution of their iconic lunge-feeding strategy.
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Affiliation(s)
- Felix G. Marx
- Department of Geology and Palaeontology, National Museum of Nature and Science, Tsukuba, Japan
- School of Biological Sciences, Monash University, 25 Rainforest Walk, Clayton, Victoria 3800, Australia
- Geosciences, Museum Victoria, Melbourne, Australia
- Directorate of Earth and History of Life, Royal Belgian Institute of Natural Sciences, Brussels, Belgium
- Author for correspondence: Felix G. Marx e-mail:
| | - Naoki Kohno
- Department of Geology and Palaeontology, National Museum of Nature and Science, Tsukuba, Japan
- Graduate School of Life and Environmental Sciences, University of Tsukuba, Tsukuba, Japan
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14
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Bianucci G, Di Celma C, Urbina M, Lambert O. New beaked whales from the late Miocene of Peru and evidence for convergent evolution in stem and crown Ziphiidae (Cetacea, Odontoceti). PeerJ 2016; 4:e2479. [PMID: 27688973 PMCID: PMC5036081 DOI: 10.7717/peerj.2479] [Citation(s) in RCA: 29] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/08/2016] [Accepted: 08/23/2016] [Indexed: 11/25/2022] Open
Abstract
The Ziphiidae (beaked whales) represent a large group of open-ocean odontocetes (toothed cetaceans), whose elusive and deep diving behavior prevents direct observation in their natural habitat. Despite their generally large body size, broad geographical distribution, and high species number, ziphiids thus remain poorly known. Furthermore, the evolutionary processes that have led to their extreme adaptations and impressive extant diversity are still poorly understood. Here we report new fossil beaked whales from the late Miocene of the Pisco Formation (southern Peru). The best preserved remains here described are referred to two new genera and species, the Messinian Chavinziphius maxillocristatus and the Tortonian Chimuziphius coloradensis, based on skull remains from two marine vertebrate-rich localities: Cerro Los Quesos and Cerro Colorado, respectively. C. maxillocristatus is medium sized retains a complete set of functional lower teeth, and bears robust rostral maxillary crests similar to those of the extant Berardius. By contrast, C. coloradensis is small and characterized by large triangular nasals and moderately thickened premaxillae that dorsally close the mesorostral groove. Both species confirm the high past diversity of Ziphiidae, the richest cetacean family in terms of the number of genera and species. Our new phylogenetic and biogeographical analyses depart markedly from earlier studies in dividing beaked whales into two major clades: the Messapicetus clade, which, along with other stem ziphiids, once dominated the southeastern Pacific and North Atlantic; and crown Ziphiidae, the majority of which are found in deep-water regions of the Southern Ocean, with possible subsequent dispersal both globally (Mesoplodon and Ziphius) and to the cooler waters of the northern oceans (Berardius and Hyperoodon). Despite this relatively clear separation, both lineages seem to follow similar evolutionary trends, including (1) a progressive reduction of dentition; (2) an increase in the compactness and thickness of the rostral bones; (3) similar changes in facial morphology (e.g., elevation of the vertex); and (4) an increase of body size. We suggest that these trends may be linked to a convergent ecological shift to deep diving and suction feeding.
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Affiliation(s)
- Giovanni Bianucci
- Dipartimento di Scienze della Terra, Università di Pisa, Pisa, Italy
| | - Claudio Di Celma
- School of Science and Technology, University of Camerino, Camerino, Italy
| | - Mario Urbina
- Departamento de Paleontología de Vertebrados, Museo de Historia Natural–Universidad Nacional Mayor de San Marcos, Lima, Peru
| | - Olivier Lambert
- Direction Opérationnelle Terre et Histoire de la Vie, Institut royal des sciences naturelles de Belgique, Brussels, Belgium
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