Collaborative Research: Taxonomy, Phylogeny, and the Evolution of Feeding Strategies in Fossil and Living Mysticete Cetaceans

University Of California-Riverside, Riverside CA

Investigators

Abstract

A grant has been awarded to Dr. John Gatesy at the University of California, Riverside to study the evolutionary history of Mysticeti (baleen whales), the largest animals on earth. Evolutionary relationships among baleen whale are, at present, unresolved. The proposed study combines the detailed analysis of poorly understood fossil whale species, many of which were found in southern California, with comprehensive genetic characterization of living mysticetes. The diverse paleontological and molecular data will be used to examine how these giant animals have evolved over the past thirty million years of earth history. Whales have long captured the interest and attention of the public. Therefore, an important objective of this study is education and public outreach. Results from this grant will be used as a framework to interpret the radical transformation from ancestral toothed whales to the more derived baleen-bearing whales. This remarkable example of evolution will be incorporated into a new exhibit planned at the San Diego Natural History Museum. In addition, undergraduate and graduate students will be involved in all phases of the research and will receive broad training in modern biological techniques. Finally, most mysticetes are highly endangered, and several are on the brink of extinction. The data collected in this study will offer critical information for the conservation of baleen whales.