1 10 3 https://theses.otagogeology.org.nz/files/original/b3cf838895176024488220d13cddfe59.pdf 5f60902f6f1a140ff88d8342ced07b99 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Geology theses OU Geology thesis Thesis or dissertation completed by University of Otago Geology students Author last name Last name of the Author Boessenecker Project type Is it an MSc, PhD, BSc(Hons) or PGDipSci? PhD Advisers Who supervised/advised this student Fordyce, R.E. Abstract The Abstract for this thesis The early evolution of toothless baleen whales (Chaeomysticeti) remains elusive despite a robust record of Eocene-Oligocene archaeocetes and toothed mysticetes. Eomysticetids, a group of archaic longirostrine toothless baleen whales fill in a crucial morphological gap between well-known toothed mysticetes and more modernized Neogene Mysticeti. Eomysticetids have been reported from South Carolina, USA, and Japan. Problematic fossils from New Zealand including "Mauicetus" lophocephalus Marples, 1956 and "Mauicetus" waitakiensis Marples, 1956, have been proposed as southern hemisphere eomysticetids. The fragmentary nature of this material has hampered interpretation of the relationships of these species. A large new collection of Eomysticetidae from the Oligocene Kokoamu Greensand and Otekaike Limestone of New Zealand permits reassessment of the skeletal anatomy, functional morphology, ontogeny, monophyly, and phylogenetic relationships of the family. This collection includes significant specimens including skulls, tympanoperiotics, mandibles, and postcrania of juveniles and adults. Discovery of new material similar to the "Mauicetus" of Marples permits referral of these species to the new genera Tohoraata and Tokarahia, recombined as Tohoraata waitakiensis and Tokarahia lophocephalus. More complete material of similar species Tohoraata raekohao and Tokarahia lophocephalus indicates that the two species of Tohoraata are stratigraphically separated whereas both species of Tokarahia were contemporaneous. The new genus and species Waharoa ruwhenua is represented by an ontogenetic series of skeletons that highlight the elongation of the palate during ontogeny; other morphofunctional aspects of the feeding apparatus suggest right whale-like skim feeding. The new genus and species Matapa waihao is the oldest and most archaic eomysticetid from New Zealand, indicating the presence of the family in the Southern Hemisphere by the earliest Chattian. Fragmentary specimens indicate the survival of eomysticetids to the Oligo-Miocene boundary or perhaps into the earliest Miocene, and the possible occurrence of the Japanese eomysticetid Yamatocetus in the Southern Hemisphere. Cladistic analysis confirms placement of the family Eomysticetidae as sister to crown Mysticeti. Eomysticetidae is for the first time recognized as being monophyletic; cladistic results indicate inclusion of Micromysticetus rothauseni. The Eomysticetidae were a specialized, worldwide, diverse, and short-lived Oligocene radiation of the earliest toothless mysticetes OURArchive handle The handle from the Otago University Research Archive (OURArchive) <a href="http://hdl.handle.net/10523/5742">http://hdl.handle.net/10523/5742</a> OURArchvive access level Abstract Only Department The department where the student is studying primarily. Geology Thesis description Number of pages, maps, CDs, etc. xv, 431 pages A4 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context 2015Boessenecker Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Boessenecker, Robert W. (Bobby) Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2015 Title A name given to the resource Anatomy, ontogeny, functional morphology, taphonomy, and phylogenetic relationships of archaic toothless mysticetes (Eomysticetidae) from the Oligocene of New Zealand Subject The topic of the resource Paleontology Baleen baleen whales Cetacea Eomysticetidae Evolution Functional Morphology Morph Mysticeti New Zealand Oligocene Ontogeny Paleontology phylogeny Taphonomy https://theses.otagogeology.org.nz/files/original/1477148aa8b09ccbc16c1d748f30b907.pdf 8e1c71dd42ab3f0476a86baac96dc40b Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Geology theses OU Geology thesis Thesis or dissertation completed by University of Otago Geology students Author last name Last name of the Author Marx Project type Is it an MSc, PhD, BSc(Hons) or PGDipSci? PhD Advisers Who supervised/advised this student Fordyce, R.E. Benton, M.J. Ruta, Marcello Abstract The Abstract for this thesis Baleen whales (mysticetes) form an essential part of modern ocean ecosystems, and show some of the most extreme adaptations evolved by any mammal. The evolutionary history of these animals has attracted much attention in recent years, but many disagreements and question marks remain. This study takes a fresh look at the phylogenetic relationships and diversity of mysticetes, with a special emphasis on the relationships of the enigmatic living pygmy right whale, Caperea marginata, and the evolution of morphological diversity (disparity) over the past 34 Ma. Detailed morphological comparisons making use of extensive collections housed at New Zealand institutions reveal the pygmy right whale to be the last survivor of the once diverse, and formerly thought extinct, family Cetotheriidae. A comprehensive phylogenetic analysis of 69 mysticetes species and 232 characters supports this result. The same analysis furthermore confirms the monophyly of the major extinct and extant mysticete families (Aetiocetidae, Balaenidae, Balaenopteridae, Cetotheriidae, Eschrichtiidae, Mammalodontidae), in addition to an expanded Eomysticetidae and a clade of toothed mysticetes comprising aetiocetids, mammalodontids, and an undescribed specimen from the early Oligocene of New Zealand. Unlike for most previous analyses, the present data matrix was assembled using the online morphology database MorphoBank, where every scoring was illustrated with around 3,800 annotated, high-quality photographs. Mysticete disparity is found to have increased quickly during the early history of the clade. Following a distinct peak during the Late Oligocene, disparity rapidly declines towards the Middle Miocene, before eventually starting to recover again during the Late Miocene and Pliocene. Disparity and taxonomic diversity are entirely decoupled. The disparity spike coincides with the co-occurrence of several small, relatively short-lived and very disparate taxa, hinting at the existence of an adaptive radiation leading to several distinct morphotypes early in mysticete evolutionary history. Using the phylogeny to reconstruct missing character scores in the data matrix has virtually no effect on the results, despite the matrix being less than 60% complete. By contrast, the inclusion of reconstructed hypothetical ancestors (internal branches) notably changes the morphospace distribution of the observed taxa. In a plot of the first two axis of a Principal Coordinate Analysis, roughly half of the ancestral taxa fall outside the range defined by the observed taxa, indicating that reconstructed values at internal nodes can combine to reveal novel information about unsampled ancestral morphologies. OURArchive handle The handle from the Otago University Research Archive (OURArchive) <a href="http://hdl.handle.net/10523/3655">http://hdl.handle.net/10523/3655</a> OURArchvive access level Abstract Only Department The department where the student is studying primarily. Geology Thesis description Number of pages, maps, CDs, etc. viii, 190 p. : ill., map ; 30 cm. + 1 DVD-ROM (4 3/4 in.) Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context 2012Marx Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Marx, Felix Georg Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2012 Title A name given to the resource The evolutionary relationships and disparity of baleen whales (Mysticeti) Subject The topic of the resource Paleontology Baleen whales (Mysticeti) Oligocene New Zealand. baleen whales Cetacea cladistics disparity morphology Mysticeti phylogeny https://theses.otagogeology.org.nz/files/original/792a5f44b69795040f696469f3773290.pdf 6b233cf5653364ca7c561e1cf833fd22 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Geology theses OU Geology thesis Thesis or dissertation completed by University of Otago Geology students Author last name Last name of the Author Bearlin Project type Is it an MSc, PhD, BSc(Hons) or PGDipSci? PhD Advisers Who supervised/advised this student Fordyce, R.E. Abstract The Abstract for this thesis Until recently, Neogene mysticete fossils from Australia and New Zealand had received scant attention as only one species "Aglaocetus ? n.sp." Glaessner, was described formally. There now appears to be a small, but taxonomically significant fauna preserved in these countries. Seven skulls - consisting of three cetotheres and four balaenopterids - form the nucleus of this fauna. The cetothere, Aglaocetus ? n.sp. (Early Miocene, South Australia), is probably not congeneric with Aglaocetus Kellogg, but rather, has close affinities with Parietobalaena Kellogg, a genus known previously only from the Early-Middle Miocene of the western North Atlantic and possibly from the eastern North Pacific. Another cetothere (Early Miocene, Victoria) is identified as a new species of Pelocetus Kellogg, a genus known previously only from the North Atlantic Early-Middle Miocene. The third cetothere (Middle Miocene, Victoria) is insufficiently complete to enable detailed comparisons, but appears to differ from all previously described taxa. Two balaenopterids are represented by incomplete skulls. The first (Middle Miocene, Victoria) represents an early global record of the Balaenopteridae. This specimen is apparently the most primitive balaenopterid documented to date, but it is not interpreted as a precursor of all balaenopterid species, nor is the western South Pacific necessarily interpreted as the centre of origin for the Balaenopteridae. The other specimen is of uncertain age (probably Neogene, South Island, . New Zealand) and represents a species of Balaenoptera Lacepede, but is too incomplete to identify its taxonomic relationships in detail. The other balaenopterid skulls are fairly complete. One skull (latest Miocene, Victoria) is a new species of Megaptera Gray and is interpreted as the most primitive megapterine known to date, while the other skull (Early Pliocene, North Island, New Zealand) is identified as a new species of Balaenoptera Lacepede and is interpreted as a structural intermediate between primitive balaenopterines such as Balaenoptera cuvierii (Fischer) and extant species of Balaenoptera Lacepede. Isolated skull fragments and earbones represent at least four balaenid, seven balaenopterid and one cetothere species. These fossils are known from the Early-Middle Miocene Murray Basin, South Australia, as probable remanie from phosphatic nodule beds of Late Miocene age in Victoria and from stata of mid Pliocene age in Tasmania, as well as scattered occurrences throughout the Neogene of New Zealand. Most of these specimens are identifiable to family, although possible conspecifics have been identified between the two countries. Mysticetes form rare, but conspicuous fossils; indeed most fossil species are represented by single incomplete specimens. The paucity of this record restricts interpretations of patterns or rates of evolution, but some broad trends are apparent. Mysticetes probably arose in the Early Oligocene, although the only established toothed mysticete fossils are relicts of Late Oligocene age and post-date cetotheres which arose by the earliest Late Oligocene. Cetotheres are edentulous and probably possessed baleen. Similarities with extant balaenopterids suggest that cetotheres fed by engulfment. Balaenids arose by the earliest Miocene. Extant balaenids and presumably all fossil balaenids possessed a narrow, arched rostrum and elongate baleen which are interpreted as adaptations for browsing. The feeding mechanism of neobalaenids is not documented, but synapomorphies shared with balaenids suggest functional similarities. Indeed, the Neobalaenidae and Balaenidae are interpreted as sister groups, so this implies that neobalaenids also arose by the Early Miocene, although there are no confirmed neobalaenid fossils. The Balaenopteridae and Eschrichtiidae are interpreted as sister groups which presumably arose by the Middle Miocene based on early records of balenopterids, although eschrichtiid fossils are known confidently only from the Late Pleistocene. By the Middle Miocene the Mysticeti possessed an ecological diversity comparable with that present today. The Megapterinae and Balaenopterinae differentiated by the Late Miocene. Balaenopterids differ from cetotheres by possessing abruptly depressed supraorbital processes of the frontals, transversely wider lateral processes of the maxillae, a more elongate rostrum and more widely-bowed mandibles. These differences suggest relative and absolute enlargement of the surface area of the baleen, expansion of the temporal musculature and expansion of the ventral pouch in response to an increase in absolute body size. Comparable details of structural changes in eschrichtiids, neobalaenids and early balaenids are restricted by a poor fossil record. Eschrichtiids are convergent with balaenids and rieobalaenids in the presence of a gently arched rostrum and transversely flattened-mandibles, but eschrichtiids possess the widest range of feeding strategies seen in all mysticetes - engulfing, browsing and grazing. Presumably evolution within the Mysticeti was influenced by external (e.g. paleoceanic or pilleoecological) factors, but these cannot be identified for the Neogene. Similarly, zoogeographic trends below genus level remain uncertain as no species have been identified in either Australia or New Zealand which are known from elsewhere, but genera such as Balaena Linnaeus, Balaenoptera Lacepede, Parietobalaena Kellogg and Peloceteus Kellogg probably possessed transequatorial sister species. Department The department where the student is studying primarily. Geology Named locality Named locality describing the field area location. Australia New Zealand Thesis description Number of pages, maps, CDs, etc. xvi, 212 pages, b+w plates Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context 1987Bearlin Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Bearlin, Robert Kingston Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1987 Title A name given to the resource The Morphology and Systematics of Neogene Mysticeti from Australia and New Zealand Subject The topic of the resource Paleontology Cenozoic Cetacea fossil Mysticeti whales