<i>Balaena ricei</i>, a New Species of Bowhead Whale from the Yorktown Formation (Pliocene) of Hampton, Virginia

Abstract

Fossil species of Balaena have previously been named on the basis of material from the Western Hemisphere, but all are founded upon undiagnostic material. The holotype of B. ricei new species consists of a partial skull, partial mandible, all major flipper bones, and representatives of all types of vertebrae, allowing comparison with the two best-known European species. This study, together with the known occurrence of Balaena species in the Pliocene of Europe, strengthens the conclusion that bowhead whales were present on both sides of the North Atlantic Ocean at that time. By contrast, remains of Balaena have not been reported from Miocene deposits of the Atlantic coast of North America.