tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1953405279736337089.post8062000421406941886..comments2024-03-26T18:57:05.676-06:00Comments on The Coastal Paleontologist: Prep update: Purisima Formation mysticete skull 3Robert Boesseneckerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04157434108254005433noreply@blogger.comBlogger6125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1953405279736337089.post-80080934101552608032010-04-23T20:47:29.110-06:002010-04-23T20:47:29.110-06:00A lot of the Eobalaenoptera type material hasn'...A lot of the Eobalaenoptera type material hasn't been completely prepared, and when we described it we didn't actually know we had that much of the skull. The skull had already weathered out and broken up when the specimen was first discovered. Weathered material at Carmel Church gets a hard crust that's almost impossible to remove. So for many years some of these skull fragments were encased in this crust, and we didn't even know it was skull material (we knew in 2004 that we had the condyles and bits of squamosal, but that's all). The pictures I posted on the blog is actually a sandbox reconstruction; I still haven't put the skull back together permanently because we may still have some unprepped pieces.<br /><br />The other skull was actually collected in the early 1970's, but I wasn't aware of it until around 2006 (had I known about it in 2004, I'd have possibly have made it the holotype).<br /><br />I've been working on a paper about those two skulls for awhile, maybe I'll get it out this year!Alton Dooleyhttp://www.paleolab.orgnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1953405279736337089.post-52176893000796757732010-04-23T02:08:35.770-06:002010-04-23T02:08:35.770-06:00Hey Butch,
I only recently saw the pictures of th...Hey Butch,<br /><br />I only recently saw the pictures of the new Eobalaenoptera material, and the referred cranium; beautiful material! There certainly is more material of the skull than was indicated when you guys described it. It does look *somewhat* similar to Protororqualus cortesii - unfortunately, that material is now destroyed, but I'm sure there's some similar material to Eobalaenoptera in Italy.Robert Boesseneckerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04157434108254005433noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1953405279736337089.post-700768606769028272010-04-22T16:58:35.297-06:002010-04-22T16:58:35.297-06:00awesome specimen.awesome specimen.Doughttp://accpaleo.wordpress.com/noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1953405279736337089.post-46384828389855464372010-04-17T11:15:00.714-06:002010-04-17T11:15:00.714-06:00Eobalaenoptera doesn't have the squared-off an...Eobalaenoptera doesn't have the squared-off anterior margin of the supraoccipital that balaenopterids have, and it has little if any ascending processes of the maxillae (hard to tell, but it looks like your guy may have this). Eobalaenoptera does seem to have widely divergent zygomatic processes, and it also has large, swollen exoccipitals (this might be an apomorphy of the genus). Seems like your specimen is about the same size as Eobalaenoptera.<br /><br />Of course, the Purisima is much younger than the Calvert (at least 7 million years).Alton Dooleyhttp://www.paleolab.orgnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1953405279736337089.post-87305829813917510362010-04-16T13:21:29.035-06:002010-04-16T13:21:29.035-06:00Hey Butch,
The anterior tip of the SOS is indeed ...Hey Butch,<br /><br />The anterior tip of the SOS is indeed slightly squared off; a large skull figured by Barnes (1973) from the San Diego Formation potentially referable to this taxon has a slightly squared off SOP, about this stage or so, and very little parietal exposed.<br /><br />How does this compare with your new cranial material of Eobalaenoptera?Robert Boesseneckerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04157434108254005433noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1953405279736337089.post-53927524459328157452010-04-16T11:53:23.517-06:002010-04-16T11:53:23.517-06:00Well done!
I can't tell from the photos; is t...Well done!<br /><br />I can't tell from the photos; is the anterior end of the supraoccipital squared off, or does it come to a point?Alton Dooleyhttp://www.paleolab.orgnoreply@blogger.com