Eubalaena

Right whales are three species of large baleen whales of the genus Eubalaena: the North Atlantic right whale, the North Pacific right whale and the southern right whale. They are classified in the family Balaenidae with the bowhead whale. Right whales have rotund bodies with arching rostrums, V-shaped blowholes and dark gray or black skin. The most distinguishing feature of a right whale is the rough patches of skin on its head, which appear white due to parasitism by whale lice. Right whales are typically 13–17 m (43–56 ft) long and weigh up to 100 short tons or more.

Eubalaena

Michaël CATANZARITI · CC BY-SA 3.0 · via Wikipedia/Commons. May be a photograph of a specimen, or an artist’s reconstruction — an interpretation of a skeleton, since colour and soft tissue are almost never preserved.

On record

Recorded, not inferred
Also called
right whalePBDB
Sits inside
BalaenidaePBDB
Diet
suspension feederPBDB, for Balaenidae
Life habit
aquaticPBDB, for Mysticeti
Motility
actively mobilePBDB, for Cetacea
Environment
marinePBDB, for Mysticeti

Time the record covers

At least 5.3 million years on record.

The record covers at least 5.333 Mya to 11.7 ka. No occurrence read is dated outside 23.04 Mya to 0 Mya.

Oligocene — about 0 of 54 occurrencesMiocene — about 4 of 54 occurrencesMiocenePliocene — about 8 of 54 occurrencesPliocenePleistocene — about 9 of 54 occurrencesPleistocene24–23 Mya — about 0.0 occurrences23–22 Mya — about 0.0 occurrences22–21 Mya — about 0.0 occurrences21–20 Mya — about 0.0 occurrences20–20 Mya — about 0.0 occurrences20–19 Mya — about 0.0 occurrences19–18 Mya — about 0.0 occurrences18–17 Mya — about 0.0 occurrences17–16 Mya — about 0.0 occurrences16–16 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences16–15 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences15–14 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences14–13 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences13–13 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences13–12 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences12–11 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences11–10 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences10–9.4 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences9.4–8.6 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences8.6–7.8 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences7.8–7.1 Mya — about 0.3 occurrences7.1–6.3 Mya — about 0.9 occurrences6.3–5.5 Mya — about 0.9 occurrences5.5–4.7 Mya — about 0.6 occurrences4.7–3.9 Mya — about 0.6 occurrences3.9–3.1 Mya — about 3 occurrences3.1–2.4 Mya — about 4 occurrences2.4–1.6 Mya — about 1 occurrence1.6–785 ka Mya — about 0.9 occurrences785 ka–0 Mya — about 40 occurrences5.333 Mya11.7 ka23.5 Mya0 Mya

54 occurrences of Eubalaena on record. The Paleobiology Database records this as a living group. Bar height is expected occurrences, not a count: each fossil is spread across the span it is dated to, so a tall narrow bar means tight dating and a low wide one means loose.

When

54 occurrences

These are dates about fossils, not the animal: the record can only begin after it arose and end before it died out, so either end may reach further. Shares are expected occurrences: a fossil dated to a span is counted partly in each period it straddles. More on what this infers.

Found in

12 formations

Lillo — 51.21°N, 4.43°ELillo — 51.28°N, 4.33°ECromer Forest Bed — 52.93°N, 1.30°EPurisima — 37.28°N, 122.41°WVillamagna — 43.64°N, 10.74°EVillamagna — 43.61°N, 10.78°ELas Escobas — 34.89°S, 57.95°WSanta Vitória — 33.53°S, 53.37°WKisagata shell bed — 39.21°N, 139.91°EGonda — 36.67°N, 137.98°ETjörnes — 66.12°N, 17.25°WNashua — 28.56°N, 81.09°WNamba — 34.68°N, 135.50°EMaeda Sand — 43.13°N, 141.27°E

Loading coastlines…

The named rock units Eubalaena has been recovered from, largest first. Drawn where the rock is now, not where it formed. 38 occurrences have no formation on record, which is common for older literature.

Found in the same rock

144 taxa

The Paleobiology Database records 54 sites for Eubalaena, and this reads all of them. The number is how many of those sites it was catalogued from too. The 24 sharing the most are listed.

This is not a list of everything alive at the time. It is only what has come out of the same ground as this animal and been written down.

Entered from

37 references

Each of the 54 occurrences read was entered from one of these publications, ordered by how many each accounts for. This is not a search for papers mentioning the name. 25 further references are not listed. Entries link to doi.org where the Paleobiology Database holds an identifier, and to its own record where it does not. Relayed as the Paleobiology Database holds them, not checked against what they resolve to.

Media and terms

Media content2

Picture of Eubalaena

Credit
Michaël CATANZARITI
Licence
CC BY-SA 3.0
Commercial use
the licence allows it

CT scan

Licence
In Copyright
Commercial use
cannot be read from the licence given — check the record
Specimen
Eubalaena glacialis · LACM:Mammals:54763

Smithsonian Open Access was not reached for this taxon, so this list is what the others held rather than everything there is.

The description on this site

Licence
CC BY-SA 4.0

This is what the site found, which is not the same as what exists.

Keep going

What may have been alongside itBalaenidae through timeThe world it lived on

Occurrence data from the Paleobiology Database, CC BY 4.0. Gray 1864