Whale barnacles and Neogene cetacean migration routes
Whale barnacles and Neogene cetacean migration routes
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DOI：
10.1080/00288306.2006.9515152
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发表时间：
2006-03-01
影响因子：
2.2
通讯作者：
Buckeridge, John
中科院分区：
文献类型：
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作者：
Bianucci, Giovanni;Landini, Walter;Buckeridge, John
最近在厄瓜多尔海岸的上新世晚期-更新世沉积物中发现了一个特殊的外寄生鲸藤壶Coronula迪亚德马化石组合，今天座头鲸（Megaptera novaeangliae）迁移到那里繁殖。在新西兰和瓦努阿图也有类似的记录，在那里，在沿着的沉积物中发现了上新世-更新世晚期的冠状珊瑚化石，这些海岸是目前座头鲸的迁徙路线。在厄瓜多尔和新西兰，我们都收集到了与这些藤壶组合有关的鲸鱼遗骸碎片。考虑到分离的鲸鱼藤壶从现存的座头鲸只被观察到在繁殖区或沿着迁徙路线，我们认为厄瓜多尔和新西兰的化石藤壶组合的鲸鱼迁徙在晚第三纪的间接证据。这一假说在地中海盆地小冠鲸化石的分布模式中的应用表明，与现在不同的是，神秘鲸可能在上新世和更新世期间将地中海作为繁殖地。
An exceptional fossil assemblage of the ectoparasitic whale barnacle Coronula diadema was recently discovered from late Pliocene-Pleistocene sediments outcropping on the coast of Ecuador where today humpback whales (Megaptera novaeangliae) migrate for breeding. A similar occurrence is recorded in New Zealand and in Vanuatu, where late Pliocene-Pleistocene fossil coronulids have been found in sediments along the coasts that are current humpback whale migration routes. In both Ecuador and New Zealand we have collected fragmentary whale remains in association with these barnacle assemblages. Considering that detachment of whale barnacles from extant humpback whales has only been observed in breeding areas or along migratory routes, we view the Ecuador and New Zealand fossil barnacle assemblages as indirect evidence of whale migration during the late Neogene. Application of this hypothesis to the distribution pattern of fossil Coronula in the Mediterranean Basin, indicates that, unlike the present, mysticete whales may have used the Mediterranean as a breeding ground during the Pliocene and Pleistocene.