Balaenella

Balaenella; Temporal range: early Pliocene PreꞒ Ꞓ O S D C P T J K Pg N
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Mammalia
Order:	Artiodactyla
Infraorder:	Cetacea
Family:	Balaenidae
Genus:	†Balaenella; Bisconti, 2005
Species
	†B. brachyrhynus Bisconti, 2005 (type)

Balaenella is an extinct genus of balaenid whale known from the early Pliocene of what is now Antwerp, Belgium. The type species is Balaena brachyrhynus.

Classification

A cladistic analysis of Balaenidae places Balaenella as the sister taxon of the modern bowhead whale in a clade separate from right whales.

Palaeobiology

A partial skull attributed to B. brachyrhynus from the Kattendijk Formation shows evidence of bite marks made by a bluntnose sixgill shark. It is hypothesized that these bite marks may have occurred on an upside-down, floating carcass, which could indicate a scavenging event.

References

↑ Bisconti, M. (2005). "Skull Morphology and Phylogenetic Relationships of a New Diminutive Balaenid from the Lower Pliocene of Belgium". Palaeontology 48 (4): 793–816. doi:10.1111/j.1475-4983.2005.00488.x. edit
↑ Lambert, Olivier; Stewart, John R.; Louwye, Stephen; Coninck, Luc De; Bosselaers, Mark; Crété, Lucile; Goolaerts, Stijn; Mallet, Christophe; Mollen, Frederik H. (2026-03-18). "Evidence for different shark species feeding on a diminutive right whale and a relative of the beluga in the Early Pliocene of the southern North Sea". Acta Palaeontologica Polonica. 71 (1): 69–84. doi:10.4202/app.01297.2025. hdl:1854/LU-01KV5FJP13ME2D6S52G67CY82V.

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[1] Bisconti, M. (2005). "Skull Morphology and Phylogenetic Relationships of a New Diminutive Balaenid from the Lower Pliocene of Belgium". Palaeontology 48 (4): 793–816. doi:10.1111/j.1475-4983.2005.00488.x. edit

[2] Lambert, Olivier; Stewart, John R.; Louwye, Stephen; Coninck, Luc De; Bosselaers, Mark; Crété, Lucile; Goolaerts, Stijn; Mallet, Christophe; Mollen, Frederik H. (2026-03-18). "Evidence for different shark species feeding on a diminutive right whale and a relative of the beluga in the Early Pliocene of the southern North Sea". Acta Palaeontologica Polonica. 71 (1): 69–84. doi:10.4202/app.01297.2025. hdl:1854/LU-01KV5FJP13ME2D6S52G67CY82V.