PBDB Taxon

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Morphology	Ecology and taphonomy	External Literature Search	Age range and collections

Eubalaena glacialis (North Atlantic right whale)

Mammalia - Cetacea - Balaenidae

Taxonomy

Balaena glacialis was named by Muller (1776). It is extant. Its type locality is North Cape, which is in a Holocene coastal horizon in Norway.

It was recombined as Eubalaena glacialis by Sherman (1952), Moore and Clark (1963), Hershkovitz (1966), Barnes (1977), Pilleri (1987), Mead and Brownell (2005), Bouetel and Muizon (2006), Kimura (2009), Bisconti (2009), Marx (2011), Tsai et al. (2014), Gol'din and Steeman (2015).

Subspecies

Balaena glacialis lamanoni, E. glacialis (syn. Balaena mysticetus angulata, Balaena mediterranea, Macleayius britannicus, Balaena cisarctica)

Synonyms

Hunterius temminckii was named by Gray (1864). It is extant.

It was synonymized subjectively with Eubalaena glacialis by Hershkovitz (1966); it was synonymized subjectively with Eubalaena australis by Mead and Brownell (2005).
Macleayius australiensis was named by Gray (1866). It is extant.

It was synonymized subjectively with Eubalaena glacialis by Hershkovitz (1966).
Balaena islandica was named by Brisson (1762) [Hershkovitz (1966) attributes this name to Gmelin (1788), but Brisson (1762) clearly uses this name properly.]. It is extant.

It was synonymized subjectively with Balaena glacialis by Trouessart (1904); it was synonymized subjectively with Eubalaena glacialis by Hershkovitz (1966).
Balaena britannica was named by Gray (1870). It is extant.

It was recombined as Halibalaena britannica by Gray (1873); it was synonymized subjectively with Eubalaena glacialis by Hershkovitz (1966).
Hunterius svendenborgii was named by Lilljeborg (1868). It is extant.

It was corrected as Hunterius swedenborgii by Gray (1871); it was recombined as Balaena svendenborgii by Brandt (1873); it was synonymized subjectively with Balaena mysticetus by Brandt (1874); it was recombined as Balaena swedenborgii by Van Beneden (1882); it was synonymized subjectively with Eubalaena glacialis by Hershkovitz (1966).
Balaena sieboldii was named by Gray (1864). It is extant.

It was recombined as Eubalaena sieboldii by Gray (1866), Gray (1868), Gray (1871); it was synonymized subjectively with Balaena japonica by Van Beneden and Gervais (1880); it was synonymized subjectively with Eubalaena glacialis by Hershkovitz (1966); it was synonymized subjectively with Eubalaena japonica by Mead and Brownell (2005).
Balaena tarentina was named by Capellini (1877) [Capellini bases this taxon on a fragmentary right bulla, a series of cervical vertebrae (C1-C7), a scapula, right and left nasals, an undetermined tissue sample, a one baleen plate.]. It is extant.

It was synonymized subjectively with Eubalaena glacialis by Hershkovitz (1966).
Balaena biscayensis was named by Eschricht (1860). It is extant.

It was recombined as Hunterius biscayensis by Gray (1871); it was recombined as Eubalaena biscayensis by Scott (1873); it was synonymized subjectively with Balaena glacialis by Trouessart (1904); it was synonymized subjectively with Eubalaena glacialis by Hershkovitz (1966), Mead and Brownell (2005).
Balaena nordcaper was named by Lacépède (1804). It is extant.

It was synonymized subjectively with Eubalaena glacialis by Hershkovitz (1966), Mead and Brownell (2005).
Balaena aleoutiensis was named by Van Beneden (1866). It is extant.

It was synonymized subjectively with Balaena japonica by Van Beneden and Gervais (1868); it was synonymized subjectively with Eubalaena glacialis by Hershkovitz (1966).

Synonymy list

Year	Name and author
1762	Balaena islandica Brisson p. 218
1776	Balaena glacialis Muller p. 7
1804	Balaena nordcaper Lacépède p. 103 figs. Fig. 1-3
1860	Balaena biscayensis Eschricht
1864	Balaena sieboldii Gray p. 349
1864	Hunterius temminckii Gray p. 349
1866	Balaena biscayensis Gray p. 89
1866	Eubalaena sieboldii Gray p. 96
1866	Hunterius temminckii Gray p. 96
1866	Macleayius australiensis Gray p. 105 figs. Figures 10-11
1866	Balaena aleoutiensis Van Beneden
1868	Eubalaena sieboldii Gray p. 1
1868	Hunterius swedenborgii Gray p. 1
1868	Hunterius temminckii Gray p. 1
1868	Macleayius australiensis Gray p. 2
1868	Hunterius svendenborgii Lilljeborg
1869	Balaena sieboldii Scammon and Cope p. 15
1870	Balaena britannica Gray p. 200
1871	Balaena nordcaper Gray p. 39
1871	Eubalaena sieboldii Gray p. 43
1871	Hunterius biscayensis Gray p. 44
1871	Hunterius swedenborgii Gray p. 44
1871	Hunterius temminckii Gray p. 44
1871	Macleayius australiensis Gray p. 46
1873	Balaena svendenborgii Brandt p. 22
1873	Macleayius australiensis Gray p. 134
1873	Halibalaena britannica Gray p. 141 figs. Fig. 5
1873	Eubalaena biscayensis Scott p. 134
1877	Balaena tarentina Capellini p. 11 figs. 1-7
1880	Balaena biscayensis Van Beneden and Gervais p. 90
1882	Balaena swedenborgii Van Beneden p. 19
1887	Balaena biscayensis Lydekker p. 19
1891	Balaena biscayensis Newton p. 57
1904	Balaena glacialis Trouessart p. 787
1904	Balaena sieboldi Trouessart p. 787
1912	Balaena biscayensis Turner p. 29
1952	Eubalaena glacialis Sherman p. 99
1963	Eubalaena glacialis Moore and Clark p. 141
1963	Balaena glacialis Scheffer and Rice p. 9
1966	Eubalaena glacialis Hershkovitz p. 190
1977	Eubalaena glacialis Barnes p. 323 figs. Table 1
1987	Eubalaena glacialis Pilleri p. 77
2005	Eubalaena glacialis Mead and Brownell p. 723
2006	Eubalaena glacialis Bouetel and Muizon p. 387
2008	Balaena glacialis Agnarsson and May-Collado p. 981 figs. Fig. 5
2009	Eubalaena glacialis Bisconti p. 153
2009	Eubalaena glacialis Kimura p. 8
2011	Eubalaena glacialis Marx p. 83 figs. Figure 2
2014	Eubalaena glacialis Tsai et al. p. 87
2015	Eubalaena glacialis Gol'din and Steeman p. 13 figs. Figure 10

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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	Balaenoidea
family	Balaenidae	()
genus	Eubalaena
species	glacialis	(Muller 1776)

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.

Eubalaena glacialis Muller 1776 [North Atlantic right whale]

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†Balaena glacialis lamanoni Cuvier 1836

Eubalaena glacialis glacialis Tomlin 1957

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Invalid names: Balaena cisarctica Cope 1865 [synonym], Balaena mediterranea Gray 1870 [synonym], Balaena mysticetus angulata Gray 1866 [synonym], Macleayius britannicus Gray 1870 [synonym]

Invalid names: Balaena aleoutiensis Van Beneden 1866 [synonym], Balaena biscayensis Eschricht 1860 [synonym], Balaena islandica Brisson 1762 [synonym], Balaena nordcaper Lacépède 1804 [synonym], Balaena swedenborgi Lilljeborg 1868 [synonym], Balaena tarentina Capellini 1877 [synonym], Eubalaena sieboldii Gray 1864 [synonym], Halibalaena britannica Gray 1870 [synonym], Hunterius temminckii Gray 1864 [synonym], Macleayius australiensis Gray 1866 [synonym]

Diagnosis

No diagnoses are available

Measurements

part	N	mean

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: Uhen 2004, Nowak 1991

Age range

Maximum range based only on fossils: base of the Early/Lower Pleistocene to the top of the Holocene or 2.58000 to 0.00000 Ma
Minimum age of oldest fossil (stem group age): 0.774 Ma

Collections (24 total)

Time interval	Ma	Country or state	Original ID and collection number
Early/Lower Pleistocene	2.58 - 0.774	United Kingdom (England)	Balaena biscayensis (77750) Eubalaena glacialis (58420)
Late/Upper Pleistocene	0.129 - 0.0117	Denmark	Balaena glacialis (76051) Eubalaena glacialis (159731)
Late/Upper Pleistocene	0.129 - 0.0117	United Kingdom (Scotland)	Balaena biscayensis (238895)
Holocene	0.0117 - 0.0	United Kingdom (England)	Balaena biscayensis (238907 238924) Eubalaena glacialis (238915 238928)
Holocene	0.0117 - 0.0	Canada (Labrador)	Eubalaena glacialis (224252)
Holocene	0.0117 - 0.0	Japan (Akita)	Eubalaena glacialis (56380)
Holocene	0.0117 - 0.0	USA (New Jersey)	Eubalaena glacialis (167959 197275)
Holocene	0.0117 - 0.0	Spain	Cetacea indet. (196911)
Holocene	0.0117 - 0.0	United Kingdom (Scotland)	Eubalaena glacialis (238445)
Holocene	0.0117 - 0.0	Germany	Eubalaena glacialis (159717)
Holocene	0.0117 - 0.0	France	Cetacea indet. (196916)
Holocene	0.0117 - 0.0	Norway	Balaena glacialis (type locality: 86928) Eubalaena glacialis (237892 237895)
Holocene	0.0117 - 0.0	Japan	Balaena glacialis (82088)
Holocene	0.0117 - 0.0	Denmark	Eubalaena glacialis (159706 159715 159724)