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Balaenoptera (rorqual)

Mammalia - Cetacea - Balaenopteridae

Taxonomy
Balaenoptera was named by Lacépède (1804) [Sepkoski's age data: T Mi-u R]. It is extant.

It was reranked as Balaena (Balaenoptera) by Reichenbach (1846).

It was assigned to Balaenina by Gray (1825); to Balaena by Reichenbach (1846); to Balaenidae by Gray (1846), Gray (1850), Gray (1863), Cope (1867), Cope (1868), Scammon and Cope (1869), Ameghino (1889), Cope (1890), Newton (1891), Cope (1895), Hay (1902), Palmer (1904) and Case (1904); to Mysticeti by Depéret (1887) and True (1912); to Balaenopterini by Winge (1921); to Cetacea by Sepkoski (2002); to Balaenopterinae by Flower (1865), Flower (1867), Gill (1871), Brandt (1873), Brandt (1874), Lydekker (1887), Trouessart (1898), Trouessart (1904), Miller (1923), Hay (1930), Fraser and Purves (1960), Vidal (1991), McKenna and Bell (1997), Rice (1998), Bergqvist et al. (1999), Bouetel and Muizon (2006) and Bisconti (2008); and to Balaenopteridae by Gray (1864), Gray (1866), Gray (1868), Flores (1895), Turner (1912), Zittel (1925), Kellogg (1928), Weber (1928), Dal Piaz (1929), Kellogg (1944), Simpson (1945), Ellerman and Morrisson-Scott (1951), Sherman (1952), Scheffer and Rice (1963), Barnes (1977), Deméré (1986), Pilleri (1987), Carroll (1988), Geisler and Sanders (2003), Mead and Brownell (2005), Deméré et al. (2005), Steeman (2007), Agnarsson and May-Collado (2008), Whitmore and Kaltenbach (2008), Uhen et al. (2008), Fordyce and Roberts (2009), Geisler et al. (2011), Ekdale et al. (2011), Gol'din and Steeman (2015), Marx and Fordyce (2015), Boessenecker and Fordyce (2015), Marx et al. (2016), Tanaka and Taruno (2017), Berta (2017), Rosel et al. (2021), Zazzera and Girone (2022), Govender and Marx (2023) and Tanaka et al. (2023).

Synonyms
Synonymy list
YearName and author
1804Balaenoptera Lacépède
1821Physalus Gray p. 310
1822Physalis Fleming p. 206
1825Balaenoptera Gray p. 340
1825Physalus Gray p. 340
1830Mysticetus Wagler p. 33
1836Rorqualus Cuvier p. 303
1842Rorqualus De Kay p. 129
1846Balaenoptera Gray p. 18
1846Balaenoptera fasciata Gray p. 20
1846Balaena (Balaenoptera) Reichenbach p. 784
1849Pterobalaena Eschricht
1850Balaenoptera Gray p. 31
1850Physalus Gray p. 34
1850Physalus (Rorqualus) Gray p. 41
1853Rorqualus Pictet p. 387
1863Balaenoptera Gray p. 199
1864Benedenia Gray p. 211
1864Physalus Gray p. 215
1864Sibbaldus Gray p. 222
1864Balaenoptera Gray p. 226
1865Physalus Flower p. 392
1865Sibbaldius Flower p. 392
1865Sibbaldus Flower p. 392 figs. Figures 16-18
1865Balaenoptera Flower p. 393
1866Benedenia Gray p. 135
1866Physalus Gray p. 139
1866Cuvierius Gray p. 164
1866Sibbaldius Gray p. 169
1866Sibbaldius (Rudolphius) Gray p. 170
1866Balaenoptera Gray p. 186
1867Balaenoptera Cope p. 144
1867Balaenoptera Flower p. 115
1867Physalus Flower p. 115
1867Sibbaldus Flower p. 115
1868Balaenoptera Cope p. 193
1868Sibbaldus Cope p. 193
1868Benedenia Gray p. 2
1868Cuvierius Gray p. 2
1868Physalus Gray p. 2
1868Balaenoptera Gray p. 3
1868Rudolphius Gray p. 3
1868Sibbaldius Gray p. 3
1868Swinhoia Gray p. 3
1869Balaenoptera Scammon and Cope p. 15
1869Sibbaldius Scammon and Cope p. 15
1871Balaenoptera Gill p. 126
1871Physalus Gill p. 126
1871Sibbaldus Gill p. 126
1873Balaenoptera Brandt p. 33
1874Balaenoptera Brandt p. I
1874Stenobalaena Gray p. 305
1887Balaenoptera Depéret p. 273
1887Balaenoptera Lydekker p. 34
1888Balaenoptera andrejewi Anonymous
1888Balaenoptera grimmi Anonymous
1889Balaenoptera Ameghino p. 889
1890Balaenoptera Cope p. 612
1891Balaenoptera Newton p. 61
1895Balaenoptera Cope p. 151
1895Balaenoptera Flores p. 14
1898Balaenoptera Trouessart p. 1077
1902Balaenoptera Hay p. 600
1904Balaenoptera Case p. 54
1904Balaenoptera Palmer p. 132
1904Benedenia Palmer p. 136
1904Mysticetus Palmer p. 444
1904Physalus Palmer p. 536
1904Pterobalaena Palmer p. 595
1904Rudolphius Palmer p. 613
1904Sibbaldus Palmer p. 630
1904Balaenoptera Trouessart p. 782
1904Balaenoptera andrejewi Trouessart p. 783
1904Balaenoptera grimmi Trouessart p. 783
1912Balaenoptera True p. 3
1912Balaenoptera Turner p. 31
1921Balaenoptera Winge p. 7
1923Balaenoptera Miller p. 40
1923Sibbaldus Miller p. 40
1924Balaenoptera ryani Hanna and McLellan pp. 238-240 figs. 5-9
1925Balaenoptera Zittel p. 88
1928Balaenoptera Kellogg p. 35 figs. Table 1
1928Balaenoptera Weber p. 389
1929Balaenoptera Dal Piaz
1930Balaenoptera Hay p. 574
1930Balaenoptera ryani Hay p. 575
1938Balaenoptera ryani Abel p. 9
1944Balaenoptera Kellogg p. 459
1945Balaenoptera Simpson p. 105
1945Sibbaldus Simpson p. 105
1951Balaenoptera Ellerman and Morrisson-Scott p. 714
1952Balaenoptera Sherman p. 99
1960Balaenoptera Fraser and Purves p. 112 figs. Figure 26
1963Balaenoptera Scheffer and Rice p. 9
1977Balaenoptera Barnes p. 331
1986Balaenoptera Deméré p. 280
1987Balaenoptera Pilleri p. 77
1988Balaenoptera Carroll
1991Balaenoptera Vidal p. 6
1997Balaenoptera McKenna and Bell p. 377
1998Balaenoptera Rice p. 69
1999Balaenoptera Bergqvist et al. p. 31
2002Balaenoptera Sepkoski
2003Balaenoptera Geisler and Sanders p. 27
2005Balaenoptera Deméré et al. p. 105 figs. Table II
2005Balaenoptera Mead and Brownell p. 724
2006Balaenoptera Bouetel and Muizon p. 386
2007Balaenoptera Steeman p. 880
2008Balaenoptera Agnarsson and May-Collado p. 981 figs. Fig. 5
2008Balaenoptera Bisconti p. 174
2008Balaenoptera Uhen et al. p. 619
2008Balaenoptera ryani Uhen et al. p. 619
2008Balaenoptera Whitmore and Kaltenbach p. 243
2009Balaenoptera Fordyce and Roberts p. 553
2011Balaenoptera Ekdale et al. p. 39
2011Balaenoptera Geisler et al. p. 6 figs. Table 1
2012Pterobalaena Hassanin et al. p. 43 figs. Fig. 1
2012Rorqualus Hassanin et al. p. 43 figs. Fig. 1
2015Balaenoptera Boessenecker and Fordyce figs. Table 1
2015Balaenoptera Gol'din and Steeman p. 13 figs. Figure 10
2015Balaenoptera Marx and Fordyce p. 4 figs. Figure 2
2016Balaenoptera Marx et al. p. 114
2017Balaenoptera Berta p. 168
2017Balaenoptera Tanaka and Taruno p. 4
2021Balaenoptera Rosel et al. p. 24
2022Balaenoptera Zazzera and Girone p. 52
2023Balaenoptera Govender and Marx p. 5
2023Balaenoptera Tanaka et al. p. 325

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RankNameAuthor
kingdomAnimalia()
Bilateria
EubilateriaAx 1987
Life
Deuterostomia
phylumChordataHaeckel 1874
subphylumVertebrata
superclassGnathostomata
Osteichthyes()
subclassSarcopterygii()
subclassDipnotetrapodomorpha(Nelson 2006)
subclassTetrapodomorpha()
Tetrapoda
Reptiliomorpha
Anthracosauria
subclassAmphibiosauriaKuhn 1967
Cotylosauria()
Amniota
subclassSynapsida
Therapsida()
infraorderCynodontia()
Mammaliamorpha
Mammaliaformes
classMammalia
Theriamorpha(Rowe 1993)
RankNameAuthor
Theriiformes()
Trechnotheria
Cladotheria
Zatheria
subclassTribosphenida()
subclassTheria
Eutheria()
Placentalia
Boreoeutheria
Laurasiatheria
Scrotifera
Euungulata
Artiodactylamorpha
Artiodactyla()
Whippomorpha
orderCetacea
Pelagiceti
Neoceti
suborderMysticeti
Chaeomysticeti()
Balaenomorpha
superfamilyThalassotherii
familyBalaenopteridae
genusBalaenoptera

If no rank is listed, the taxon is considered an unranked clade in modern classifications. Ranks may be repeated or presented in the wrong order because authors working on different parts of the classification may disagree about how to rank taxa.

G. Balaenoptera Lacépède 1804 [rorqual]
show all | hide all
Balaenoptera acutorostrata Lacépède 1804 [minke whale]
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Invalid names: Balaena rostrata Fabricius 1780 [synonym], Pterobalaena minor Eschricht 1849 [synonym], Rorqualus boops Cuvier 1836 [synonym], Rorqualus minor Hamilton 1837 [synonym], Sibbaldius mondinii Capellini 1877 [synonym]
Balaenoptera bonaerensis Burmeister 1867
+
Invalid names: Balaenoptera huttoni Gray 1874 [synonym]
Balaenoptera borealis Lesson 1828 [sei whale]
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Invalid names: Balaenoptera iwasi Gray 1846 [synonym], Balaenoptera laticeps Gray 1864 [synonym], Balaenoptera schlegeli swinhoei Gray 1866 [synonym], Sibbaldius schlegelii Gray 1864 [synonym]
Balaenoptera brydei Olsen 1913 [Bryde's whale]
Balaenoptera cephalus Cope 1867
Balaenoptera edeni Anderson 1879 [Eden's whale]
Balaenoptera musculus Linnaeus 1758 [blue whale]
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Invalid names: Balaenoptera australis Gray 1846 [synonym], Balaenoptera brevicauda Ichihara 1966 [synonym], Balaenoptera indica Blyth 1842 [synonym], Balaenoptera intermedia Burmeister 1871 [synonym], Balaenoptera jubartes Lacépède 1804 [synonym], Balaenoptera sulfureus Cope 1869 [synonym], Cuvierius latirostris Flower 1864 [synonym], Physalus sibbaldii Gray 1847 [synonym], Sibbaldius antarcticus Burmeister 1865 [synonym], Sibbaldius sulfureus Scammon and Cope 1869 [synonym], Sibbaldus borealis Gray 1864 [synonym]
Balaenoptera physalus Linnaeus 1758 [fin whale]
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Invalid names: Balaena antiquorum Fischer 1829 [synonym], Balaena sulcata Neill 1811 [synonym], Balaena sulcata arctica Schlegel 1841 [invalid subgroup], Balaenoptera antiquorum Gray 1846 [synonym], Balaenoptera blythi Anderson 1879 [synonym], Balaenoptera boops Linnaeus 1758 [synonym], Balaenoptera copei Elliot 1901 [synonym], Balaenoptera gibbar Lacépède 1804 [synonym], Balaenoptera patachonica Burmeister 1865 [objective synonym], Balaenoptera patachonicha tschudii Reichenbach 1846 [synonym], Balaenoptera quoyi Fisher 1829 [synonym], Balaenoptera rorqual Lacépède 1804 [synonym], Balaenoptera velifera Scammon and Cope 1869 [synonym], Benedenia knoxii Gray 1864 [synonym], Physalus brasiliensis Gray 1846 [synonym], Physalus duguidii Gray 1864 [synonym], Physalus fasciatus Gray 1850 [synonym], Physalus patachonicus Burmeister 1865 [synonym], Swinhoia chinensis Gray 1868 [synonym]
Balaenoptera ricei Rosel et al. 2021 [Rice's whale]
Balaenoptera siberi Pilleri 1989
Invalid names: Balaenoptera andrejewi Anonymous 1888 [nomen nudum], Balaenoptera fasciata Gray 1846 [nomen dubium], Balaenoptera grimmi Anonymous 1888 [nomen nudum], Balaenoptera ryani Hanna and McLellan 1924 [invalid subgroup], Benedenia Gray 1864 [synonym], Cuvierius Gray 1866 [synonym], Mysticetus Wagler 1830 [synonym], Physalis Fleming 1822 [synonym], Physalus Gray 1821 [objective synonym], Pterobalaena Eschricht 1849 [synonym], Rorqualus Cuvier 1836 [synonym], Rudolphius Gray 1866 [synonym], Sibbaldus Flower 1865 [synonym], Swinhoia Gray 1868 [synonym]
Diagnosis
No diagnoses are available