FIELD, D.J., BOESSENECKER, R., RACICOT, R.A., ÁSBJöRNSDóTTIR, L., JóNASSON, K., HSIANG, A.Y., BEHLKE, A.D., VINTHER, J. 2017. The oldest marine vertebrate fossil from the volcanic island of Iceland: a partial right whale skull from the high latitude Pliocene Tjörnes Formation. Palaeontology, 60, 2, 141-148. DOI: 10.1111/pala.12275
Daniel J. Field, Robert Boessenecker, Rachel A. Racicot, Lovísa Ásbjörnsdóttir, Kristján Jónasson, Allison Y. Hsiang, Adam D. Behlke, and Jakob Vinther- Daniel J. Field - Department of Geology & Geophysics Yale University New Haven CT USA (Email: danieljaredfield@gmail.com)
- Robert Boessenecker - Department of Geology & Environmental Geosciences College of Charleston Charleston SC USA (Email: boesseneckerrw@cofc.edu)
- Robert Boessenecker - University of California Museum of Paleontology University of California Berkeley CA USA
- Rachel A. Racicot - The Dinosaur Institute Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County Los Angeles CA USA (Email: rracicot@nhm.org)
- Rachel A. Racicot - Smithsonian Institution Washington DC USA
- Lovísa Ásbjörnsdóttir - Icelandic Museum of Natural History Reykjavík Iceland
- Kristján Jónasson - Icelandic Museum of Natural History Reykjavík Iceland
- Allison Y. Hsiang - Department of Geology & Geophysics Yale University New Haven CT USA (Email: allison.hsiang@yale.edu)
- Adam D. Behlke - Department of Geology & Geophysics Yale University New Haven CT USA (Email: adam.behlke@yale.edu)
- Jakob Vinther - Department of Geology & Geophysics Yale University New Haven CT USA (Email: jakob.vinther@bristol.ac.uk)
- Issue published online: 22 February 2017
- Manuscript Accepted: 03 December 2016
- Manuscript Received: 05 August 2016
Extant baleen whales (Cetacea, Mysticeti) are a disparate and species‐rich group, but little is known about their fossil record in the northernmost Atlantic Ocean, a region that supports considerable extant cetacean diversity. Iceland's geographical setting, dividing North Atlantic and Arctic waters, renders it ideally situated to shed light on cetacean evolution in this region. However, as a volcanic island, Iceland exhibits very little marine sedimentary exposure, and fossil whales from Iceland older than the late Pleistocene are virtually unknown. Here, we present the first fossil whale found in situ from the Pliocene Tjörnes Formation (c. 4.5 Ma), Iceland's only substantial marine sedimentary outcrop. The specimen is diagnosed as a partial skull from a large right whale (Mysticeti, Balaenidae). This discovery highlights the Tjörnes Formation as a potentially productive fossil vertebrate locality. Additionally, this find indicates that right whales (Eubalaena) and bowhead whales (Balaena) were sympatric, with broadly overlapping latitudinal ranges in the Pliocene, in contrast to the modern latitudinal separation of their living counterparts.
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