Family NEOBALAENIDAE

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Introduction

The family Neobalaenidae contains the single species, Balaena marginata Gray, 1846 which has been periodically placed either in its own monospecific family, Neobalaenidae, or in Balaenidae. Recent studies, combining genetics and morphology, have concluded that Neobalaenidae is a valid taxon (Arneson et al. 1993). No subspecies have been described or recognised. Although the type genus Neobalaena is a junior synonym of Caperea, the family name Neobalaenidae remains valid, because it was not changed prior to 1961 (Rice 1998).

General References

Arnason, U., Gullberg A. & Widegren, B. 1993. Cetacean mitochondrial DNA control region: sequences of all extant baleen whales and two sperm whale species. Molecular Biology and Evolution 10(5): 960–970

Gray, J.E. 1864. On the Cetacea which have been observed in the seas surrounding the British Islands. Proceedings of the Zoological Society of London 1864: 195-248

Gray, J.E. 1873. Remarks on some of the species in the foregoing paper [Hector, 1873]. Annals and Magazine of Natural History 4 11: 107-112

Rice, D.W. 1998. Marine Mammals of the World: Systematics and Distribution. Lawrence, KS : Society for Marine Mammalogy.

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