A new beaked whale record from the upper Miocene of Menorca, Balearic Islands, based on CT-scan analysis of limestone slabs

The finding of significant vertebrate remains inside commercial stone blocks is relatively rare. Here we describe a fossil cetacean skull discovered inside two slabs cut from a limestone block of Tortonian (i.e., early late Miocene) age from Menorca (Balearic Islands, Spain); this find represents th...

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Autores: Bianucci, Giovanni, Llácer, Sergio|||0000-0003-0192-7943, Quintana Cardona, Josep|||0000-0003-0146-2154, Collareta, Alberto, Rodríguez Florit, Agustí
Formato: artículo
Fecha de publicación:2019
País:España
Recursos:Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona
Repositorio:Dipòsit Digital de Documents de la UAB
Idioma:inglés
OAI Identifier:oai:ddd.uab.cat:215302
Acesso em linha:https://ddd.uab.cat/record/215302
https://dx.doi.org/urn:doi:10.4202/app.00593.2019
Access Level:acceso abierto
Palavra-chave:Mammalia
Cetacea
Ziphiidae
Messapicetus
Palaeobiogeography
Neogene
Mediterranean
Spain
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spelling A new beaked whale record from the upper Miocene of Menorca, Balearic Islands, based on CT-scan analysis of limestone slabsBianucci, GiovanniLlácer, Sergio|||0000-0003-0192-7943Quintana Cardona, Josep|||0000-0003-0146-2154Collareta, AlbertoRodríguez Florit, AgustíMammaliaCetaceaZiphiidaeMessapicetusPalaeobiogeographyNeogeneMediterraneanSpainThe finding of significant vertebrate remains inside commercial stone blocks is relatively rare. Here we describe a fossil cetacean skull discovered inside two slabs cut from a limestone block of Tortonian (i.e., early late Miocene) age from Menorca (Balearic Islands, Spain); this find represents the third record of a fossil cetacean from this island, as well as the best preserved. Unlike similar cases in the past, the Menorca skull was not extracted mechanically from the stone matrix, being rather imaged by means of computed tomography. The resulting 3D reconstruction of the skull allows us to refer the studied skull to the extant odontocete family Ziphiidae (beaked whales) and sheds light on the morphology of very delicate structures (e.g., the thin pterygoid hamuli and the mesorostral cartilage) that would likely have been destroyed during traditional mechanical preparation. This non-invasive investigation permits detailed osteo-anatomical comparisons between the Menorca specimen and other extinct ziphiids, leading to the referral of the former to the stem beaked whale Messapicetus cf. longirostris. We then review the geographic distribution of fossil remains of Messapicetus, which include other occurrences from Tortonian shelf deposits of southeastern Italy, southern Peru, and Maryland (eastern USA). Early branching beaked whales (including basal members of the so-called "Messapicetus clade") likely dispersed via the Central American Seaway, which allowed a direct communication between the Pacific and Atlantic oceans (including the Mediterranean cul-de-sac) throughout the Miocene.Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona 22019-01-0120192019-01-01Articlehttp://purl.org/coar/resource_type/c_6501VoRhttp://purl.org/coar/version/c_970fb48d4fbd8a85info:eu-repo/semantics/articleapplication/pdfhttps://ddd.uab.cat/record/215302https://dx.doi.org/urn:doi:10.4202/app.00593.2019reponame:Dipòsit Digital de Documents de la UABinstname:Universitat Autònoma de BarcelonaInglésengopen accesshttp://purl.org/coar/access_right/c_abf2Aquest document està subjecte a una llicència d'ús Creative Commons. Es permet la reproducció total o parcial, la distribució, la comunicació pública de l'obra i la creació d'obres derivades, fins i tot amb finalitats comercials, sempre i quan es reconegui l'autoria de l'obra original.https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccessoai:ddd.uab.cat:2153022026-06-06T12:50:31Z
dc.title.none.fl_str_mv A new beaked whale record from the upper Miocene of Menorca, Balearic Islands, based on CT-scan analysis of limestone slabs
title A new beaked whale record from the upper Miocene of Menorca, Balearic Islands, based on CT-scan analysis of limestone slabs
spellingShingle A new beaked whale record from the upper Miocene of Menorca, Balearic Islands, based on CT-scan analysis of limestone slabs
Bianucci, Giovanni
Mammalia
Cetacea
Ziphiidae
Messapicetus
Palaeobiogeography
Neogene
Mediterranean
Spain
title_short A new beaked whale record from the upper Miocene of Menorca, Balearic Islands, based on CT-scan analysis of limestone slabs
title_full A new beaked whale record from the upper Miocene of Menorca, Balearic Islands, based on CT-scan analysis of limestone slabs
title_fullStr A new beaked whale record from the upper Miocene of Menorca, Balearic Islands, based on CT-scan analysis of limestone slabs
title_full_unstemmed A new beaked whale record from the upper Miocene of Menorca, Balearic Islands, based on CT-scan analysis of limestone slabs
title_sort A new beaked whale record from the upper Miocene of Menorca, Balearic Islands, based on CT-scan analysis of limestone slabs
dc.creator.none.fl_str_mv Bianucci, Giovanni
Llácer, Sergio|||0000-0003-0192-7943
Quintana Cardona, Josep|||0000-0003-0146-2154
Collareta, Alberto
Rodríguez Florit, Agustí
author Bianucci, Giovanni
author_facet Bianucci, Giovanni
Llácer, Sergio|||0000-0003-0192-7943
Quintana Cardona, Josep|||0000-0003-0146-2154
Collareta, Alberto
Rodríguez Florit, Agustí
author_role author
author2 Llácer, Sergio|||0000-0003-0192-7943
Quintana Cardona, Josep|||0000-0003-0146-2154
Collareta, Alberto
Rodríguez Florit, Agustí
author2_role author
author
author
author
dc.contributor.none.fl_str_mv Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona
dc.subject.none.fl_str_mv Mammalia
Cetacea
Ziphiidae
Messapicetus
Palaeobiogeography
Neogene
Mediterranean
Spain
topic Mammalia
Cetacea
Ziphiidae
Messapicetus
Palaeobiogeography
Neogene
Mediterranean
Spain
description The finding of significant vertebrate remains inside commercial stone blocks is relatively rare. Here we describe a fossil cetacean skull discovered inside two slabs cut from a limestone block of Tortonian (i.e., early late Miocene) age from Menorca (Balearic Islands, Spain); this find represents the third record of a fossil cetacean from this island, as well as the best preserved. Unlike similar cases in the past, the Menorca skull was not extracted mechanically from the stone matrix, being rather imaged by means of computed tomography. The resulting 3D reconstruction of the skull allows us to refer the studied skull to the extant odontocete family Ziphiidae (beaked whales) and sheds light on the morphology of very delicate structures (e.g., the thin pterygoid hamuli and the mesorostral cartilage) that would likely have been destroyed during traditional mechanical preparation. This non-invasive investigation permits detailed osteo-anatomical comparisons between the Menorca specimen and other extinct ziphiids, leading to the referral of the former to the stem beaked whale Messapicetus cf. longirostris. We then review the geographic distribution of fossil remains of Messapicetus, which include other occurrences from Tortonian shelf deposits of southeastern Italy, southern Peru, and Maryland (eastern USA). Early branching beaked whales (including basal members of the so-called "Messapicetus clade") likely dispersed via the Central American Seaway, which allowed a direct communication between the Pacific and Atlantic oceans (including the Mediterranean cul-de-sac) throughout the Miocene.
publishDate 2019
dc.date.none.fl_str_mv 2
2019-01-01
2019
2019-01-01
dc.type.none.fl_str_mv Article
http://purl.org/coar/resource_type/c_6501
VoR
http://purl.org/coar/version/c_970fb48d4fbd8a85
dc.type.openaire.fl_str_mv info:eu-repo/semantics/article
format article
dc.identifier.none.fl_str_mv https://ddd.uab.cat/record/215302
https://dx.doi.org/urn:doi:10.4202/app.00593.2019
url https://ddd.uab.cat/record/215302
https://dx.doi.org/urn:doi:10.4202/app.00593.2019
dc.language.none.fl_str_mv Inglés
eng
language_invalid_str_mv Inglés
language eng
dc.rights.none.fl_str_mv open access
http://purl.org/coar/access_right/c_abf2
https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
dc.rights.openaire.fl_str_mv info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess
rights_invalid_str_mv open access
http://purl.org/coar/access_right/c_abf2
https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
eu_rights_str_mv openAccess
dc.format.none.fl_str_mv application/pdf
dc.source.none.fl_str_mv reponame:Dipòsit Digital de Documents de la UAB
instname:Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona
instname_str Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona
reponame_str Dipòsit Digital de Documents de la UAB
collection Dipòsit Digital de Documents de la UAB
repository.name.fl_str_mv
repository.mail.fl_str_mv
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score 15,300719

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