Balaenella is an extinct genus of balaenid whale known from the early Pliocene of what is now Antwerp, Belgium. The type species is Balaena brachyrhynus.
| Balaenella Temporal range: | |
|---|---|
Scientific classification  | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Mammalia |
| Infraclass: | Placentalia |
| Order: | Artiodactyla |
| Infraorder: | Cetacea |
| Family: | Balaenidae |
| Genus: | †Balaenella Bisconti, 2005 |
| Species | |
|
†B. brachyrhynus Bisconti, 2005 (type) | |
Classification
editA cladistic analysis of Balaenidae places Balaenella as the sister taxon of the modern bowhead whale in a clade separate from right whales.[1]
Palaeobiology
editA partial skull attributed to B. brachyrhynus from the Kattendijk Formation shows evidence of bite marks made by a bluntnose sixgill shark. It is hypothesized that these bite marks may have occurred on an upside-down, floating carcass, which could indicate a scavenging event.[2]
References
edit- ↑ Bisconti, M. (2005). "Skull Morphology and Phylogenetic Relationships of a New Diminutive Balaenid from the Lower Pliocene of Belgium". Palaeontology 48 (4): 793–816. doi:10.1111/j.1475-4983.2005.00488.x. edit
- ↑ Lambert, Olivier; Stewart, John R.; Louwye, Stephen; Coninck, Luc De; Bosselaers, Mark; Crété, Lucile; Goolaerts, Stijn; Mallet, Christophe; Mollen, Frederik H. (2026-03-18). "Evidence for different shark species feeding on a diminutive right whale and a relative of the beluga in the Early Pliocene of the southern North Sea". Acta Palaeontologica Polonica. 71 (1): 69–84. doi:10.4202/app.01297.2025.
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