The Evolutionary History of Whales and Dolphins

Fordyce, and R E; Barnes, Lawrence G.

doi:10.1146/annurev.ea.22.050194.002223

Cited by 192 publications

(153 citation statements)

References 26 publications

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“…Our disparity-through-time analysis shows that size variation, and therefore possibly dietary strategy, was partitioned among subclades relatively early in cetacean history. This is in broad agreement with the fossil record, which indicates that the teutophagous dietary strategy has been present throughout most of the evolutionary history of several odontocete families (Fordyce & Barnes 1994). Although our disparity-through-time analysis shows low levels of subclade disparity, there are some periods of cetacean history that show elevated levels of subclade disparity that are discordant with the hypothesis of adaptive radiation.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 86%

“…Extant mysticetes are specialist filter feeders, using their baleen to filter small marine animals (mainly zooplankton) from the water. The acquisition of large body sizes by mysticetes, which occurred in the Miocene (Fordyce & Barnes 1994), is commonly ascribed to the abundance and ease of capture of their highly nutritious prey. Odontocetes differ from mysticetes in exhibiting a general decrease in body size though time.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Diversity versus disparity and the radiation of modern cetaceans

et al. 2010

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Modern whales are frequently described as an adaptive radiation spurred by either the evolution of various key innovations (such as baleen or echolocation) or ecological opportunity following the demise of archaic whales. Recent analyses of diversification rate shifts on molecular phylogenies raise doubts about this interpretation since they find no evidence of increased speciation rates during the early evolution of modern taxa. However, one of the central predictions of ecological adaptive radiation is rapid phenotypic diversification, and the tempo of phenotypic evolution has yet to be quantified in cetaceans. Using a time-calibrated molecular phylogeny of extant cetaceans and a morphological dataset on size, we find evidence that cetacean lineages partitioned size niches early in the evolutionary history of neocetes and that changes in cetacean size are consistent with shifts in dietary strategy. We conclude that the signature of adaptive radiations may be retained within morphological traits even after equilibrium diversity has been reached and high extinction or fluctuations in net diversification have erased any signature of an early burst of diversification in the structure of the phylogeny.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 86%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Diversity versus disparity and the radiation of modern cetaceans

et al. 2010

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“…Its bizarre morphology suggests it was a specialized macrophagous predator that did not filter-feed. This refutes the notions that: (i) all early mysticetes were filter-feeders; and (ii) that the origins and initial adaptive radiation of mysticete whales was tied to the evolution of filter-feeding (Fordyce 1980;Mitchell 1989;Fordyce & Barnes 1994;Barnes et al 1995;Fordyce & Muizon 2001;Berta et al 2006). It thus provides compelling evidence for the pattern of early mysticete evolution, and shows that archaic mysticetes were surprisingly unlike their modern relatives.…”

Section: Introductionsupporting

confidence: 67%

“…This adaptive radiation was contemporaneous with global climate change, and increased productivity and heterogeneity of oceanic environments, associated with the establishment of the Antarctic Circumpolar Current following the final breakup of Gondwana and isolation of Antarctica (Fordyce 1980(Fordyce , 1992Nikaido et al 2001). Previous studies have emphasized the primacy of filter-feeding as the impetus for the initial radiation of mysticetes (Fordyce 1980;Fordyce 1992;Fordyce & Barnes 1994;Barnes et al 1995;Fordyce & Muizon 2001;Nikaido et al 2001;Berta et al 2006; but the novel morphology and basal position of Janjucetus (and Mammalodon) in mysticete phylogeny, which are both hypothesized to have not been filterfeeders, suggests that the initial radiation of mysticetes was not linked to the evolution of filter-feeding.…”

Section: Patterns In the Evolution Of Mysticetimentioning

confidence: 97%

A bizarre new toothed mysticete (Cetacea) from Australia and the early evolution of baleen whales

2006

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Extant baleen whales (Cetacea, Mysticeti) are all large filter-feeding marine mammals that lack teeth as adults, instead possessing baleen, and feed on small marine animals in bulk. The early evolution of these superlative mammals, and their unique feeding method, has hitherto remained enigmatic. Here, I report a new toothed mysticete from the Late Oligocene of Australia that is more archaic than any previously described. Unlike all other mysticetes, this new whale was small, had enormous eyes and lacked derived adaptations for bulk filter-feeding. Several morphological features suggest that this mysticete was a macrophagous predator, being convergent on some Mesozoic marine reptiles and the extant leopard seal (Hydrurga leptonyx). It thus refutes the notions that all stem mysticetes were filter-feeders, and that the origins and initial radiation of mysticetes was linked to the evolution of filter-feeding. Mysticetes evidently radiated into a variety of disparate forms and feeding ecologies before the evolution of baleen or filterfeeding. The phylogenetic context of the new whale indicates that basal mysticetes were macrophagous predators that did not employ filter-feeding or echolocation, and that the evolution of characters associated with bulk filter-feeding was gradual.

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“…and 2) are usually grouped into two suborders, Odontoceti (echolocating toothed whales) and Mysticeti (filter-feeding baleen whales), both of which were thought to be monophyletic on the basis of morphological, physiological, and behavioral characteristics (3)(4)(5). The extant-toothed whales have been divided into 4 broad groups consisting of 10 families: sperm whales (Physeteroidea-families Physeteridae and Kogiidae), beaked whales (family Ziphiidae), river dolphins (4 families, below), and ocean dolphins or delphinoids (Delphinoidea-families Monodontidae, Delphinidae, and Phocoenidae) (4).…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Retroposon analysis of major cetacean lineages: The monophyly of toothed whales and the paraphyly of river dolphins

Nikaido

Matsuno

Hamilton

et al. 2001

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.

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233

164

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SINE (short interspersed element) insertion analysis elucidates contentious aspects in the phylogeny of toothed whales and dolphins (Odontoceti), especially river dolphins. Here, we characterize 25 informative SINEs inserted into unique genomic loci during evolution of odontocetes to construct a cladogram, and determine a total of 2.8 kb per taxon of the flanking sequences of these SINE loci to estimate divergence times among lineages. We demonstrate that: (i) Odontocetes are monophyletic; (ii) Ganges River dolphins, beaked whales, and ocean dolphins diverged (in this order) after sperm whales; (iii) three other river dolphin taxa, namely the Amazon, La Plata, and Yangtze river dolphins, form a monophyletic group with Yangtze River dolphins being the most basal; and (iv) the rapid radiation of extant cetacean lineages occurred some 28 -33 million years B.P., in strong accord with the fossil record. The combination of SINE and flanking sequence analysis suggests a topology and set of divergence times for odontocete relationships, offering alternative explanations for several long-standing problems in cetacean evolution.SINE ͉ evolution ͉ divergence times

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The Evolutionary History of Whales and Dolphins

Cited by 192 publications

References 26 publications

Diversity versus disparity and the radiation of modern cetaceans

Diversity versus disparity and the radiation of modern cetaceans

A bizarre new toothed mysticete (Cetacea) from Australia and the early evolution of baleen whales

Retroposon analysis of major cetacean lineages: The monophyly of toothed whales and the paraphyly of river dolphins

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