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Megaptera (humpback whale)

Mammalia - Cetacea - Balaenopteridae

Taxonomy
Megaptera was named by Gray (1846) [Sepkoski's age data: T Plio-l R Sepkoski's reference number: 746]. It is extant.

It was synonymized subjectively with Kyphobalaena by Brandt (1873).

It was assigned to Megapteridae by Gray (1868), Gray (1871), Scott (1873); to Balaenidae by Gray (1846), Gray (1850), Gray (1863), Cope (1868), Scammon and Cope (1869), Ameghino (1889), Cope (1890), Newton (1891), Hay (1902), Palmer (1904); to Mysticeti by True (1912); to Balaenopterini by Winge (1921); to Balaenopterinae by Lydekker (1887), Trouessart (1898), Trouessart (1904), Hay (1930), Fraser and Purves (1960), McKenna and Bell (1997); to Cetacea by Sepkoski (2002); to Megapterinae by Flower (1865), Flower (1867), Gill (1871), Miller (1923), Vidal (1991), Rice (1998), Bergqvist et al. (1999), Bouetel and Muizon (2006); and to Balaenopteridae by Gray (1864), Gray (1866), Turner (1912), Kellogg (1928), Weber (1928), Simpson (1945), Ellerman and Morrisson-Scott (1951), Sherman (1952), Scheffer and Rice (1963), Gondar (1966), Barnes (1977), Carroll (1988), Clapham and Mead (1999), Geisler and Sanders (2003), Mead and Brownell (2005), Steeman (2007), Bisconti (2008), Agnarsson and May-Collado (2008), Whitmore and Kaltenbach (2008), Uhen et al. (2008), Geisler et al. (2011), Ekdale et al. (2011), Marx and Fordyce (2015), Boessenecker and Fordyce (2015), Marx et al. (2016).

Synonyms
Synonymy list
YearName and author
1846Megaptera Gray
1846Perqualus Gray p. 83
1850Megaptera Gray p. 23
1863Megaptera Gray p. 199
1864Megaptera Gray p. 205
1864Megaptera (Poescopia) Gray p. 207 figs. Figure 3-4
1865Megaptera Flower p. 395
1866Megaptera Gray p. 106
1866Poescopia Gray p. 125
1867Megaptera Flower p. 115
1868Megaptera Cope p. 193
1868Megaptera Gray p. 2
1868Poescopia Gray p. 2
1869Megaptera Scammon and Cope p. 15
1871Megaptera Gill p. 126
1871Megaptera Gray p. 50
1871Poescopia Gray p. 51
1873Kyphobalaena Brandt p. 29
1873Cyphobalaena Marschall
1873Megaptera Scott p. 127
1874Kyphobalaena Brandt p. 42
1887Megaptera Lydekker p. 31
1889Megaptera Ameghino p. 890
1890Megaptera Cope p. 611
1891Megaptera Newton p. 60
1898Megaptera Trouessart p. 1084
1902Megaptera Hay p. 600
1904Kyphobalaena Palmer p. 359
1904Megaptera Palmer p. 406
1904Megaptera Trouessart p. 785
1912Megaptera True p. 3
1912Megaptera Turner p. 65
1921Megaptera Winge p. 7
1923Megaptera Miller p. 40
1928Megaptera Kellogg p. 35 figs. Table 1
1928Megaptera Weber p. 389
1930Megaptera Hay p. 575
1945Megaptera Simpson p. 105
1951Megaptera Ellerman and Morrisson-Scott p. 717
1952Megaptera Sherman p. 99
1960Megaptera Fraser and Purves p. 112 figs. Figure 26
1963Megaptera Scheffer and Rice p. 9
1966Megaptera Gondar p. 144
1977Megaptera Barnes p. 328
1988Megaptera Carroll
1991Megaptera Vidal p. 6
1997Megaptera McKenna and Bell p. 377
1998Megaptera Rice
1999Megaptera Bergqvist et al. p. 31
1999Megaptera Clapham and Mead p. 1
2002Megaptera Sepkoski
2003Megaptera Geisler and Sanders p. 27
2005Megaptera Mead and Brownell p. 725
2006Megaptera Bouetel and Muizon p. 386
2007Megaptera Steeman p. 880
2008Megaptera Agnarsson and May-Collado p. 981 figs. Fig. 5
2008Megaptera Bisconti p. 174
2008Megaptera Uhen et al. p. 620
2008Megaptera Whitmore and Kaltenbach p. 248
2011Megaptera Ekdale et al. p. 39 figs. Table 1
2011Megaptera Geisler et al. p. 6 figs. Table 1
2015Megaptera Boessenecker and Fordyce figs. Table 1
2015Megaptera Marx and Fordyce p. 4 figs. Figure 2
2016Megaptera Marx et al. p. 114

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RankNameAuthor
kingdomAnimalia()
—Bilateria
—EubilateriaAx 1987
—Deuterostomia
phylumChordataHaeckel 1874
subphylumVertebrata
superclassGnathostomata
—Osteichthyes()
subclassSarcopterygii()
subclassDipnotetrapodomorpha(Nelson 2006)
subclassTetrapodomorpha()
—Tetrapoda
—Reptiliomorpha
—Anthracosauria
subclassAmphibiosauriaKuhn 1967
—Cotylosauria()
—Amniota
subclassSynapsida
—Therapsida()
infraorderCynodontia()
—Mammaliamorpha
—Mammaliaformes
classMammalia
RankNameAuthor
—Cladotheria
—Zatheria
subclassTribosphenida()
subclassTheria
—Eutheria()
—Placentalia
—Boreoeutheria
—Laurasiatheria
—Scrotifera
—Euungulata
—Artiodactylamorpha
—Artiodactyla()
—Whippomorpha
orderCetacea
—Pelagiceti
—Neoceti
suborderMysticeti
—Chaeomysticeti()
—Balaenomorpha
superfamilyThalassotherii
familyBalaenopteridae
genusMegaptera

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.

G. Megaptera Gray 1846 [humpback whale]
show all | hide all
Subg. Megaptera (Eschrichtius) Gray 1864 [gray whale]
†Megaptera brachychira Cope 1868
†Megaptera hubachi Dathe 1983
†Megaptera mysticetoides Emmons 1858
Megaptera novaeangliae Brisson 1762 [humpback whale]
+
Invalid names: Balaena allamack Gray 1846 [synonym], Balaena atlanticus Hurdis 1897 [synonym], Balaena boops Fabricius 1780 [synonym], Balaena lalandii Fischer 1829 [synonym], Balaena longimana Rudolphi 1832 [synonym], Balaenoptera antarctica Temminck 1841 [synonym], Balaenoptera astrolabae Pucheran 1853 [synonym], Balaenoptera capensis Smith 1835 [synonym], Balaenoptera leucopteron Lesson 1842 [synonym], Balaenoptera syncondylus Muller 1863 [synonym], Kyphobalaena keporkak Van Beneden 1868 [synonym], Megaptera americana Gray 1846 [synonym], Megaptera bellicosa Cope 1871 [synonym], Megaptera braziliensis Cope 1867 [synonym], Megaptera burmeisteri Gray 1866 [synonym], Megaptera gigas Cope 1865 [synonym], Megaptera indica Gervais 1883 [synonym], Megaptera kuzira Gray 1850 [synonym], Megaptera lalandii Gray 1864 [synonym], Megaptera longipinna Gray 1846 [synonym], Megaptera nodosa Bonnaterre 1789 [synonym], Megaptera novaezelandiae Gray 1864 [synonym], Megaptera osphyia Cope 1865 [synonym], Megaptera poeskop Gray 1846 [synonym], Megaptera versabilis Scammon and Cope 1869 [synonym], Poescopia lalandii Gray 1866 [synonym], Rorqualus antarcticus Cuvier 1836 [synonym]
Invalid names: Cyphobalaena Marschall 1873 [synonym], Kyphobalaena Eschricht [synonym], Perqualus Gray 1846 [synonym], Poescopia Gray 1864 [synonym]
Diagnosis
No diagnoses are available
Measurements
partNmean

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 Messinian to the top of the Holocene or 7.24600 to 0.00000 Ma
Minimum age of oldest fossil (stem group age): 5.333 Ma

Collections (42 total)


Time interval Ma Country or state Original ID and collection number
Neogene23.04 - 2.58South Pacific Balaenoptera antarctica (99587)
Messinian7.246 - 5.333Japan (Fukushima) Megaptera sp. (76004)
Messinian7.246 - 5.333Australia (Victoria) Megaptera sp. (46167)
Early/Lower Pliocene5.333 - 3.6Japan Megaptera sp. (47462)
Zanclean5.333 - 3.6Chile Megaptera hubachi (153810)
Zanclean5.333 - 3.6Chile (Coquimbo) Megaptera hubachi (56460)
Zanclean5.333 - 3.6Italy Megaptera sp. (84944)
Zanclean5.333 - 3.6Australia (Victoria) Megaptera sp. (46068 51328 51402)
Zanclean5.333 - 3.6USA (North Carolina) Megaptera sp. (52582)
Early/Lower Pliocene - Late/Upper Pliocene5.333 - 2.58Japan (Chiba) Megaptera sp. (56942)
Early/Lower Pliocene - Late/Upper Pliocene5.333 - 2.58Australia (Tasmania) Megaptera sp. (51414)
Piacenzian3.6 - 2.58USA (Florida) Megaptera sp. (22712 100408)
Late/Upper Pliocene - Early/Lower Pleistocene3.6 - 0.774Taiwan Megaptera novaeangliae (206745)
Early/Lower Pleistocene2.58 - 0.774Japan (Ishikawa) Megaptera indet. (200790) Megaptera sp. (200747)
Middle Pleistocene0.774 - 0.129Japan (Chiba) Megaptera novaeangliae (96893)
Late/Upper Pleistocene0.129 - 0.0117Brazil Megaptera sp. (54181)
Late/Upper Pleistocene0.129 - 0.0117Canada (Ontario) Megaptera boops (51020)
Late/Upper Pleistocene0.129 - 0.0117Denmark Megaptera novaeangliae (76056 159731)
Late/Upper Pleistocene0.129 - 0.0117Taiwan Megaptera novaeangliae (73686)
Late/Upper Pleistocene0.129 - 0.0117Canada (Quebec) Megaptera novaeangliae (51021)
Late/Upper Pleistocene0.129 - 0.0117USA (South Carolina) Megaptera sp. (188304)
Holocene0.0117 - 0.0Japan Megaptera novaeangliae (51310 82088)
Holocene0.0117 - 0.0New Caledonia Megaptera novaeangliae (83481)
Holocene0.0117 - 0.0Svalbard and Jan Mayen Megaptera novaeangliae (167972)
Holocene0.0117 - 0.0Norway Megaptera novaeangliae (237893 237902)
Holocene0.0117 - 0.0Antarctica Megaptera novaeangliae (167971)
Holocene0.0117 - 0.0Denmark Megaptera novaeangliae (159712)
Holocene0.0117 - 0.0USA (Maine) Megaptera novaeangliae (167965)
Holocene0.0117 - 0.0Brazil Megaptera novaeangliae (167966)
Holocene0.0117 - 0.0India Megaptera novaeangliae (167970)
Holocene0.0117 - 0.0Angola Megaptera novaeangliae (167967)
Holocene0.0117 - 0.0United Arab Emirates (Abu Dhabi) Megaptera novaeangliae (162177)
Holocene0.0117 - 0.0USA (Oregon) Megaptera novaeangliae (167968 224273)
Holocene0.0117 - 0.0Peru Megaptera novaeangliae (167969)