A New Fossil Rorqual Aff. Balaenoptera Bertae Specimen from the Shinazawa Formation (Late Pliocene to Early Pleistocene), Yamagata, Japan

Abstract

More than 23 extinct species and 10 extant species of the Balaenopteridae are known. Our knowledge of the family Balaenopteridae is increasing quickly, however, few fossil records support a circum-North Pacific distribution of balaenopterid genera and species. Because of limited preservations, most rorqual fossils reported from the western North Pacific can only be identified to the family level. A skull from the Shinazawa Formation (late Pliocene to Early Pleistocene) in Yamagata, Japan, is identified as aff. Balaenoptera bertae by possessing two diagnostic features of the species: large occipital condyles, and a posteriorly elongate postglenoid process. Combination of four more features also support that the specimen is a closely related to B. bertae. The specimen is probably a slightly older individual than the holotype of B. bertae, based on the estimated bizygomatic width and slightly longer posterior process of the tympanoperiotic. The first and only report of B. bertae was from the Pliocene Purisima Formation in California, USA. The specimen from Japan is incompletely preserved, but shows the occurrence of B. bertae in the western North Pacific for the first time, as many living balaenopterids are distributed across the North Pacific, such as Balaenoptera musculus, B. physalus, B. borealis, B. acutorostrata, and Megaptera novaeangliae.