Related Experiment Video
Updated: Feb 8, 2026

Using Archival Japanese Paper and Thermoplastic Resins to Prepare Fossils for Storage, Display, Transport, and Radiography
Published on: November 14, 2025
A Miocene pygmy right whale fossil from Australia
Felix G Marx1,2,3, Travis Park2,4, Erich M G Fitzgerald3,4,5
1Directorate of Earth and History of Life, Royal Belgian Institute of Natural Sciences, Brussels, Belgium.
Abstract:
Neobalaenines are an enigmatic group of baleen whales represented today by a single living species: the pygmy right whale, Caperea marginata, found only in the Southern Hemisphere. Molecular divergence estimates date the origin of pygmy right whales to 22-26 Ma, yet so far there are only three confirmed fossil occurrences. Here, we describe an isolated periotic from the latest Miocene of Victoria (Australia). The new fossil shows all the hallmarks of Caperea, making it the second-oldest described neobalaenine, and the oldest record of the genus. Overall, the new specimen resembles C. marginata in its external morphology and details of the cochlea, but is more archaic in it having a hypertrophied suprameatal area and a greater number of cochlear turns. The presence of Caperea in Australian waters during the Late Miocene matches the distribution of the living species, and supports a southern origin for pygmy right whales.
More Related Videos
Related Concept Videos
The Fossil Record
What is Evolutionary History?
The Evidence for Evolution
Convergent Evolution
Sustainable Development
The Tree of Life - Bacteria, Archaea, Eukaryotes

