PBDB Taxon

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Morphology	Ecology and taphonomy	External Literature Search	Age range and collections

Balaenoptera borealis (sei whale)

Mammalia - Cetacea - Balaenopteridae

Discussion

skull = ZMB_Mam_77323 & skeleton = ZMB_Mam_77376

Taxonomy

Balaenoptera borealis was named by Lesson (1828). It is extant. Its type specimen is ZMB_Mam_77323 & ZMB_Mam_77376, a skeleton. Its type locality is Gromitz, which is in a Holocene coastal horizon in Germany.

It was recombined as Rorqualus borealis by Hamilton (1837), De Kay (1842), Hassanin et al. (2012); it was synonymized subjectively with Balaenoptera musculus by Hershkovitz (1966).

Subspecies

Balaenoptera swinhoei alba

Synonyms

Balaenoptera schlegelii was named by Gray (1864). It is extant.

It was recombined as Sibbaldius schlegelii by Gray (1866), Gray (1871), Scott (1873); it was recombined as Sibbaldius schlegellii by Gray (1868); it was misspelled as Balaenoptera schlegeli by Trouessart (1904); it was synonymized subjectively with Balaenoptera borealis by Hershkovitz (1966), Mead and Brownell (2005).
Balaenoptera swinhoei was named by Gray (1866). It is extant.

It was synonymized subjectively with Swinhoia chinensis by Gray (1868); it was recombined as Balaenoptera schlegeli swinhoei by Trouessart (1904); it was synonymized subjectively with Balaenoptera borealis by Hershkovitz (1966).
Balaenoptera laticeps was named by Gray (1864). It is extant.

It was recombined as Sibbaldus laticeps by Gray (1864), Gray (1866), Scott (1873); it was recombined as Sibbaldius laticeps by Flower (1865); it was recombined as Rudolphius laticeps by Gray (1868), Gray (1871); it was synonymized subjectively with Balaenoptera borealis by Hershkovitz (1966).
Balaenoptera iwasi was named by Gray (1846). It is extant.

It was recombined as Physalus iwasi by Gray (1850), Gray (1866); it was synonymized subjectively with Balaenoptera borealis by Hershkovitz (1966).

Synonymy list

Year	Name and author
1828	Balaenoptera borealis Lesson p. 342 figs. Plate 6
1837	Rorqualus borealis Hamilton p. 125 figs. Plate 6
1842	Rorqualus borealis De Kay p. 131
1846	Balaenoptera iwasi Gray p. 20
1846	Balaenoptera laticeps Gray p. 20
1850	Physalus iwasi Gray p. 42
1864	Sibbaldus laticeps Gray p. 222
1864	Balaenoptera laticeps Gray p. 223
1864	Balaenoptera schlegelii Gray p. 352
1865	Sibbaldius laticeps Flower p. 393
1866	Physalus iwasi Gray p. 163
1866	Sibbaldius schlegelii Gray p. 171
1866	Sibbaldus laticeps Gray p. 171
1866	Balaenoptera swinhoei Gray p. 382
1868	Rudolphius laticeps Gray p. 3
1868	Sibbaldius schlegellii Gray p. 3
1871	Rudolphius laticeps Gray p. 54
1871	Sibbaldius schlegelii Gray p. 55
1873	Sibbaldus laticeps Scott p. 123
1873	Sibbaldius schlegelii Scott p. 124
1873	Balaenoptera swinhoei Scott p. 126
1887	Balaenoptera borealis Lydekker p. 38
1904	Balaenoptera borealis Trouessart p. 783
1904	Balaenoptera schlegeli Trouessart p. 783
1904	Balaenoptera schlegeli swinhoei Trouessart p. 783
1912	Balaenoptera borealis Turner p. 57
1922	Balaenoptera borealis Oliver p. 562
1950	Balaenoptera borealis Junge p. 24
1952	Balaenoptera borealis Sherman p. 99
1963	Balaenoptera borealis Scheffer and Rice p. 9
1977	Balaenoptera borealis Barnes p. 323 figs. Table 1
1998	Balaenoptera borealis Rice p. 75
2005	Balaenoptera borealis Mead and Brownell p. 724
2008	Balaenoptera borealis Agnarsson and May-Collado p. 981 figs. Fig. 5
2011	Balaenoptera borealis Marx p. 83 figs. Figure 2
2012	Rorqualus borealis Hassanin et al. p. 43 figs. Fig. 1
2014	Balaenoptera borealis Tsai et al. p. 86
2015	Balaenoptera borealis Marx and Fordyce p. 4 figs. Figure 2

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Rank	Name	Author
kingdom	Animalia	()
—	Bilateria
—	Eubilateria	Ax 1987
—	Deuterostomia
phylum	Chordata	Haeckel 1874
subphylum	Vertebrata
superclass	Gnathostomata
—	Osteichthyes	()
subclass	Sarcopterygii	()
subclass	Dipnotetrapodomorpha	(Nelson 2006)
subclass	Tetrapodomorpha	()
—	Tetrapoda
—	Reptiliomorpha
—	Anthracosauria
subclass	Amphibiosauria	Kuhn 1967
—	Cotylosauria	()
—	Amniota
subclass	Synapsida
—	Therapsida	()
infraorder	Cynodontia	()
—	Mammaliamorpha
—	Mammaliaformes
class	Mammalia

Rank	Name	Author
—	Cladotheria
—	Zatheria
subclass	Tribosphenida	()
subclass	Theria
—	Eutheria	()
—	Placentalia
—	Boreoeutheria
—	Laurasiatheria
—	Scrotifera
—	Euungulata
—	Artiodactylamorpha
—	Artiodactyla	()
—	Whippomorpha
order	Cetacea
—	Pelagiceti
—	Neoceti
suborder	Mysticeti
—	Chaeomysticeti	()
—	Balaenomorpha
superfamily	Thalassotherii
family	Balaenopteridae
genus	Balaenoptera
species	borealis	Lesson 1828

If no rank is listed, the taxon is considered an unranked clade in modern classifications. Ranks may be repeated or presented in the wrong order because authors working on different parts of the classification may disagree about how to rank taxa.

Balaenoptera borealis Lesson 1828 [sei whale]

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Invalid names: Balaenoptera iwasi Gray 1846 [synonym], Balaenoptera laticeps Gray 1864 [synonym], Balaenoptera schlegeli swinhoei Gray 1866 [synonym], Sibbaldius schlegelii Gray 1864 [synonym]

Balaenoptera swinhoei alba Giglioli 1870

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Diagnosis

No diagnoses are available

Measurements

No measurements are available

Composition:

hydroxyapatitesubo

Form:

roller-shapedo

Ontogeny:

modification of partso

Environment:

marinesubo

Locomotion:

actively mobileo

Life habit:

aquaticsubo

Depth habitat:

surfaceo

Diet:

suspension feederf

Reproduction:

viviparouso

Created:

2005-06-08 10:11:09

Modified:

2005-06-08 12:11:09

Source: f = family, subo = suborder, o = order

References: Nowak 1991, Uhen 2004

Age range

Maximum range based only on fossils: base of the Middle Miocene to the top of the Holocene or 15.98000 to 0.00000 Ma
Minimum age of oldest fossil (stem group age): 11.63 Ma

Collections (9 total)

Time interval	Ma	Country or state	Original ID and collection number
Middle Miocene	15.98 - 11.63	Japan (Fukushima)	Balaenoptera borealis (55660)
Piacenzian	3.6 - 2.58	Japan (Ibaraki)	Balaenoptera borealis (76014)
Early/Lower Pleistocene	2.58 - 0.774	Japan (Hokkaido)	Balaenoptera borealis (75990)
Late/Upper Pleistocene	0.129 - 0.0117	Japan (Hokkaido)	Balaenoptera borealis (75998)
Late/Upper Pleistocene	0.129 - 0.0117	United Kingdom (England)	Balaenoptera borealis (238916)
Holocene	0.0117 - 0.0	United Kingdom (Scotland)	Balaenoptera borealis (238446)
Holocene	0.0117 - 0.0	Germany	Balaenoptera borealis (type locality: 86926)
Holocene	0.0117 - 0.0	New Caledonia	Balaenoptera borealis (83459)
Holocene	0.0117 - 0.0	Antarctica	Balaenoptera borealis (90111)