Biology Encyclopedia	Mysticeti Author, 3000 “translation of the latin”
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Author

Common Names

Mysticetes, baleen whales, great whales

Latin Synonyms

Linnaean Rank

Suborder

Ancestral Phylogeny and Taxonomy

Explanation of phylogenetic trees

Lineage

Terrabiota, Cytota, Neomura, Eukaryota, Unikonta, Opisthokonta, Animalia, Metazoa, Eumetazoa, Bilateria, Deuterostomia, Cyrtotreta, Chordata, Notochordata, Vertebrata, Gnathostomata,, Teleostomi, Euteleostomi, Sarcopterygii, Tetrapodomorpha, Tetrapoda, Reptilomorpha, Cotylosauria, Amniota, Synapsida, Therapsida, Eutherapsida, Mammalia, Cladotheria, Zatheria, Theria, Eutheria, Placentalia, Boreoeutheria, Laurasiatheria, Ferungulata, Cetartiodactyla, Cetaceae, Autoceta

Descendant Phylogeny and Taxonomy

Morphology

The Baleen Whales are so named for their feeding apparatus:  plates of baleens hang from the roof of the mouth and serve to strain planktonic food items.  Although extant Mysticetes lack teeth (except in embryonic stages) and possess baleen, this is not true for some fossil toothed Mysticetes (Berta, 1999).

Distribution

Ecology

Ethology

Evolution

Baleen whales evolved from the toothed whales during the Oligocene. One of the earliest-known baleen whales was Aetiocetus, which still had all its teeth, but it also had a loose jaw hinge like later baleen whales.  Evolutionary trends within the group include the loss of teeth, development of large body size and large heads, shortening of intertemporal region, and shortening of the neck (Berta, 1999).

Development

Ethnobiology

Population

Notes and Comments

References

Literature

Berta, Annalisa and James L. Sumich.  1999.  Marine mammals evolutionary biology.  Academic Press.

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