Fucaia
Extinct species of whale
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Fucaia is an extinct genus of primitive baleen whale belonging to the family Aetiocetidae that is known from Oligocene and latest Eocene marine deposits on Vancouver Island, Canada, the Olympic Peninsula, Washington State, and Oregon.[2]
| Fucaia Temporal range: Oligocene | |
|---|---|
Scientific classification  | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Mammalia |
| Order: | Artiodactyla |
| Infraorder: | Cetacea |
| Family: | †Aetiocetidae |
| Genus: | †Fucaia Marx, Tsai, and Fordyce, 2015 |
| Type species | |
| †Fucaia buelli | |
| Species | |
| |
Taxonomy
Three species are now recognized; F. buelli, F. goedertorum (Barnes et al. 1995), and F. humilis. Fucaia humilis is latest Eocene in age and thus the oldest mysticete in the Northern Hemisphere, F. buelli is of early Oligocene (Rupelian) age, while F. goedertorum is younger. The latter was originally described as a species of Chonecetus before it was recognized as more closely related to buelli than to the Chonecetus type species.[3][4]
Palaeobiology
The tooth structure of Fucaia indicates that it was capable of both raptorial feeding and suction-feeding, like other aetiocetids. Analysis of the cranium and postcranium of F. goedertorum has confirmed that the species was a suction-assisted raptorial feeder.[5]
