A Whale of a Time! Exploring the Evolution of Mysticete Cetaceans

Please enjoy this episode examining the evolution of the Mysticete cetaceans, which developed from modestly sized toothy ancestors that survived the Eocene-Oligocene extinction event. https://www.patreon.com/c/DrPolaris Thumbnail art by Joschua Knuppe Sources used for this episode: Boessenecker, R.W.; Fordyce, R. E. (2015) Anatomy, feeding ecology, and ontogeny of a transitional baleen whale: a new genus and species of Eomysticetidae (Mammalia: Cetacea) from the Oligocene of New Zealand. PeerJ 3:e1129 https://doi.org/10.7717/peerj.1129 Boessenecker, R. W.; Fordyce, R. E. (2017). "Cosmopolitanism and Miocene survival of Eomysticetidae (Cetacea: Mysticeti) revealed by new fossils from New Zealand". New Zealand Journal of Geology and Geophysics. 60 (2): 145–157. doi:10.1080/00288306.2017.1300176. S2CID 133204707. Boessenecker, R. W.; Beatty, B. L.; Geisler, J. H. (2023). "New specimens and species of the Oligocene toothed baleen whale Coronodon from South Carolina and the origin of Neoceti". PeerJ. 11 e14795. doi:10.7717/peerj.14795. Duncan, R. J.; Rule, J. P.; Park, T.; Evans, A. R.; Adams, J. W.; Fitzgerald, E. M. G. (2025). "An immature toothed mysticete from the Oligocene of Australia and insights into mammalodontid (Cetacea: Mysticeti) morphology, systematics, and ontogeny". Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society. 204 (4) zlaf090. doi:10.1093/zoolinnean/zlaf090. Ekdale, Eric G.; Deméré, Thomas A. (1 February 2022). "Neurovascular evidence for a co-occurrence of teeth and baleen in an Oligocene mysticete and the transition to filter-feeding in baleen whales". Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society. 194 (2): 395–415. doi:10.1093/zoolinnean/zlab017. ISSN 0024-4082. Fitzgerald, E. M. G. (2010). "The morphology and systematics of Mammalodon colliveri (Cetacea: Mysticeti), a toothed mysticete from the Oligocene of Australia". Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society. 158 (2): 367–476. doi:10.1111/j.1096-3642.2009.00572.x. Fordyce, R. E.; Marx, F. G. (2018). "Gigantism precedes filter feeding in baleen whale evolution". Current Biology. 28 (10): 1670–1676. doi:10.1016/j.cub.2018.04.027. PMID 29754903. Geisler, Jonathan H; Boessenecker, Robert W.; Brown, Mace; Beatty, Brian L. (2017). "The Origin of Filter Feeding in Whales". Current Biology. 27 (13): 2036–2042.e2. Bibcode:2017CBio...27E2036G. doi:10.1016/j.cub.2017.06.003. PMID 28669761. Goldbogen, J.a.; Cade, D.e.; Calambokidis, J.; Friedlaender, A.s.; Potvin, J.; Segre, P.s.; Werth, A.j. (2017-01-03). "How Baleen Whales Feed: The Biomechanics of Engulfment and Filtration". Annual Review of Marine Science. 9 (1): 367–386. Bibcode:2017ARMS....9..367G. doi:10.1146/annurev-marine-122414-033905. ISSN 1941-1405. PMID 27620830. Lambert, O.; Martínez-Cáceres, M.; Bianucci, G.; Di Celma, C.; Salas-Gismondi, R.; Steurbaut, E.; Urbina, Mario; de Muizon, C. (2017). "Earliest Mysticete from the Late Eocene of Peru Sheds New Light on the Origin of Baleen Whales". Current Biology. 27 (10): 1535–1541.e2. Bibcode:2017CBio...27E1535L. doi:10.1016/j.cub.2017.04.026. hdl:11581/396095. PMID 28502655. Marlow, Jeremy R.; Lange, Carina B.; Wefer, Gerold; Rosell-Melé, Antoni (2000-12-22). "Upwelling Intensification As Part of the Pliocene-Pleistocene Climate Transition". Science. 290 (5500): 2288–2291. Bibcode:2000Sci...290.2288M. doi:10.1126/science.290.5500.2288. ISSN 0036-8075. PMID 11125138. S2CID 3179052. Marx, Felix G.; Buono, Mónica R.; Evans, Alistair R.; Fordyce, R. Ewan; Reguero, Marcelo; Hocking, David P. (2019). "Gigantic mysticete predators roamed the Eocene Southern Ocean". Antarctic Science. 31 (2): 98–104. Bibcode:2019AntSc..31...98M. doi:10.1017/S095410201800055X. hdl:11336/110008. S2CID 135434058. Okazaki, Y. (2012). "A new mysticete from the upper Oligocene Ashiya Group, Kyushu, Japan and its significance to mysticete evolution" (PDF). Bulletin of the Kitakyushu Museum of Natural History and Human History. 10: 129–152. Peredo, C. M.; Pyenson, N. D.; Marshall, C. D.; Uhe, M. D. (2018). "Tooth Loss Precedes the Origin of Baleen in Whales". Current Biology. 28 (24): 3992–4000.e2. doi:10.1016/j.cub.2018.10.047. PMID 30503622. Slater, G. J.; Goldbogen, J. A.; Pyenson, N. D. (2017). "Independent evolution of baleen whale gigantism linked to Plio-Pleistocene ocean dynamics". Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences. 284 (1855) 20170546. Bibcode:2017PBioS.28470546S. doi:10.1098/rspb.2017.0546. PMC 5454272. PMID 28539520. Tsai, C.H., Fordyce R.E., 2016. Archaic baleen whale from the Kokoamu Greensand: earbones distinguish a new late Oligocene mysticete (Cetacea: Mysticeti) from New Zealand. Journal of the Royal Society of New Zealand. doi:10.1080/03036758.2016.1156552