Editing Eschrichtiidae

{{Short description|Family of mammals}}
{{Automatic taxobox
|image = Graywhale MMC.jpg
|name = Eschrichtiidae
|fossil_range = {{Fossil range|Late Miocene|Recent}}
|taxon = Eschrichtiidae
|authority = {{Harvnb|Ellerman|Morrison-Scott|1951}}
|subdivision_ranks = [[Genus|Genera]]
|subdivision = 
* [[extinction|†]]''[[Archaeschrichtius]]''<br /><small>{{Harvnb|Bisconti|Varola|2006}}</small>
* †''[[Eschrichtioides]]''<br /><small>{{Harvnb|Bisconti|2008}}</small>
* ''[[Eschrichtius]]''<br /><small>{{Harvnb|Gray|1864}}</small>
* †''[[Glaucobalaena]]''<br /><small>Bisconti ''et al.'' 2024</small>
* †''[[Gricetoides]]''<br /><small>{{Harvnb|Whitmore|Kaltenbach|2008}}</small>
|synonyms=
* Rhachianectidae<br /><small>{{Harvnb|Weber|1904}}</small>
}}

'''Eschrichtiidae''' or the '''gray whales''' is a [[family (taxonomy)|family]] of [[baleen whale]] (Parvorder [[Mysticeti]]) with a single extant species, the [[gray whale]] (''Eschrichtius robustus''), as well as four described fossil genera: ''[[Archaeschrichtius]]'' ([[Miocene]]), ''[[Glaucobalaena]]'' and ''[[Eschrichtioides]]'' ([[Pliocene]]) from Italy,<ref>{{Harvnb|Bisconti|2008}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Bisconti |first1=Michelangelo |last2=Damarco |first2=Piero |last3=Marengo |first3=Lorenza |last4=Macagno |first4=Mattia |last5=Daniello |first5=Riccardo |last6=Pavia |first6=Marco |last7=Carnevale |first7=Giorgio |date=2024-09-05 |title=Anatomy and Relationships of a New Gray Whale from the Pliocene of Piedmont, Northwestern Italy |journal=Diversity |language=en |volume=16 |issue=9 |pages=547 |doi=10.3390/d16090547 |doi-access=free |bibcode=2024Diver..16..547B |issn=1424-2818}}</ref> and ''[[Gricetoides]]'' from the Pliocene of North Carolina.<ref>{{Harvnb|Pyenson|Lindberg|2011}}</ref> Some phylogenetic studies have found this family to be invalid, with its members nesting inside of the clade [[Rorqual|Balaenopteridae]].<ref name=":0">{{Cite journal|last1=McGowen|first1=Michael R|last2=Tsagkogeorga|first2=Georgia|last3=Álvarez-Carretero|first3=Sandra|last4=dos Reis|first4=Mario|last5=Struebig|first5=Monika|last6=Deaville|first6=Robert|last7=Jepson|first7=Paul D|last8=Jarman|first8=Simon|last9=Polanowski|first9=Andrea|last10=Morin|first10=Phillip A|last11=Rossiter|first11=Stephen J|date=2019-10-21|title=Phylogenomic Resolution of the Cetacean Tree of Life Using Target Sequence Capture|journal=Systematic Biology|volume=69|issue=3|pages=479–501|doi=10.1093/sysbio/syz068|issn=1063-5157|pmc=7164366|pmid=31633766}}</ref><ref name=":1">{{Cite web|title=Explore the Database|url=https://www.mammaldiversity.org/explore.html#species-id=1006404|access-date=2021-08-20|website=www.mammaldiversity.org}}</ref> The names of the extant genus and the family honours Danish zoologist [[Daniel Eschricht]].<ref>{{Harvnb|Jones|Swartz|2008|p=503}}</ref>

==Taxonomy==
In his morphological analysis, {{Harvnb|Bisconti|2008}} found that eschrichtiids and [[Cetotheriidae]] (''[[Cetotherium]]'', ''[[Mixocetus]]'' and ''[[Metopocetus]]'') form a monophyletic sister group of [[Balaenopteridae]].<ref>{{Harvnb|Bisconti|2008|loc=Results, pp. 173–174}}</ref>

A specimen from the [[Late Pliocene]] of [[Northern Italy]], named ''"[[Cetotherium]]" gastaldii'' by {{Harvnb|Strobel|1875}}<ref>{{Harvnb|Strobel|1875|p=136}}</ref> and renamed ''"Balaenoptera" gastaldii'' by {{Harvnb|Portis|1885}}, was identified as a basal eschrichtiid by {{Harvnb|Bisconti|2008}} who recombined it to ''[[Eschrichtioides|Eschrichtioides gastaldii]]''.<ref name="PyeLin-fossils">{{Harvnb|Pyenson|Lindberg|2011|loc=Fossil record of gray whales}}</ref><ref>{{Harvnb|Deméré|Berta|McGowen|2005|pp=119–120}}</ref>

{{Harvnb|Steeman|Hebsgaard|Fordyce|Ho|2009}} found that the gray whale is phylogenetically distinct from rorquals and that previous morphological studies were correct in the conclusion that the evolution of gulp feeding was a single event in the rorqual lineage.<ref>{{Harvnb|Steeman|Hebsgaard|Fordyce|Ho|2009|p=580}}</ref> In contrast, multiple later studies found the gray whale to fall within the family Balaenopteridae, being more derived than the [[minke whale]]s but basal to all other members in the family, and reclassified it in Balaenopteridae; the [[American Society of Mammalogists]] has followed this classification.<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":1" /><ref>{{cite journal|last1=Árnason|first1=Úlfur|last2=Lammers|first2=Fritjof|last3=Kumar|first3=Vikas|last4=Nilsson|first4=Maria A.|last5=Janke|first5=Axel|year=2018|title=Whole-genome sequencing of the blue whale and other rorquals finds signatures for introgressive gene flow|journal=[[Science Advances]]|volume=4|issue=4|pages=eaap9873|bibcode=2018SciA....4.9873A|doi=10.1126/sciadv.aap9873|pmc=5884691|pmid=29632892}}</ref>

==Evolution==
Fossils of Eschrichtiidae have been found in all major oceanic basins in the Northern Hemisphere, and the family is believed το date back to the [[Late Miocene]].<ref name="PyeLin-fossils" />  Today, gray whales are only present in the northern Pacific, but a population was also present in the northern Atlantic before being driven to extinction by European whalers three centuries ago.<ref>{{Harvnb|Bisconti|Varola|2006|p=450}}</ref>

Fossil eschrichtiids from before the Holocene are rare compared to other fossil mysticetes.  The only Pleistocene fossil from the Pacific referred to ''E. eschrichtius'' is a partial skeleton and an associated skull from California, estimated to be about 200 thousand years old.  However, a late Pliocene fossil from [[Hokkaido]], Japan, referred to ''Eschrichtius'' sp. is estimated to be {{Mya|2.6|3.9|Mya}} and a similar unnamed fossil has been reported from California.<ref name="PyeLin-fossils" />

In their description of ''Archaeschrichtius ruggieroi'' from the late Miocene of Italy, {{Harvnb|Bisconti|Varola|2006}} argued that eschrichtiids most likely originated in the [[Mediterranean Basin]] about {{Mya|10}} and remained there, either permanently or intermittently, at least until the [[Early Pliocene]] (5–3 Mya),<ref>{{Harvnb|Bisconti|Varola|2006|loc=Implications for eschrichtiid fossil record and paleobiogeography, p. 454}}</ref> (but see [[Messinian salinity crisis]].)

==References==

===Notes===
{{Reflist|30em}}

===Sources===
{{Refbegin|30em}}
* {{Cite book
  | last      = Anderson
  | first     = J.
  | title     = Nachrichten von Island, Grönland und der Strasse Davis
  | year      = 1746
  | publisher = Verlegts Georg Christian Grund, Buckdr.
  | location  = Hamburg
  | url       = https://archive.org/stream/herrnjohannander00ande#page/200/mode/2up 
  | language  = de
}}<!-- {{Harvnb|Anderson|1746}} -->
* {{Cite book
  | last1     = Barnes
  | first1    = L. G.
  | last2     = McLeod
  | first2    = S. A.
  | chapter   = The Fossil Record and Phyletic Relationships of Gray Whales
  | pages     = 3–28
  | editor1-last  = Jones
  | editor1-first = M. L.
  | editor2-last  = Swartz
  | editor2-first =  S. L.
  | editor3-last  = Leatherwood
  | editor3-first = S.
  | title     = The Gray Whale: ''Eschrichtius Robustus''
  | year      = 1984
  | publisher = Academic Press
  | chapter-url       = https://books.google.com/books?id=GfGITi5NmJoC&pg=PA4 | isbn      = 9780080923727
}}<!-- {{Harvnb|Barnes|McLeod|1984}} -->
* {{Cite journal
  | last1   = Bisconti
  | first1  = M.
  | title   = Morphology and phylogenetic relationships of a new eschrichtiid genus (Cetacea: Mysticeti) from the Early Pliocene of northern Italy
  | year    = 2008
  | journal = Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society
  | volume  = 153
  | pages   = 161–186
  | doi     = 10.1111/j.1096-3642.2008.00374.x
  | oclc    = 438026086
| doi-access= 
  }}<!-- {{Harvnb|Bisconti|2008}} -->
**{{cite web |title=M. Bisconti 2008 |website=Fossilworks |url=https://paleobiodb.org/classic/displayRefResults?reference_no=27099}}
* {{Cite journal
  | last1   = Bisconti
  | first1  = M.
  | last2   = Varola
  | first2  = A.
  | title   = The oldest eschrichtiid mysticete: and a new morphological diagnosis of Eschrichtiidae (gray whales)
  | year    = 2006
  | journal = Rivista Italiana di Paleontologia e Stratigrafia
  | volume  = 112
  | issue   = 3
  | pages   = 447–457
  | url     = http://www.rivistaitalianadipaleontologia.it/doc/Bisconti_%26_Varola_2006.pdf
}}<!-- {{Harvnb|Bisconti|Varola|2006}} -->
**{{cite web |title=M. Bisconti and A. Varola 2006 |website=Fossilworks |url=https://paleobiodb.org/classic/displayRefResults?reference_no=26193}}
* {{Cite book
  | last       = Brisson
  | first      = M. J.
  | author-link = Mathurin Jacques Brisson
  | title      = Regnum animale in classes IX. distributum, sive, Synopsis methodica
  | year       = 1762
  | publisher  = Apud Theodorum Haak
  | location   = Lieden
  | url        = https://www.digitale-sammlungen.de/en/view/bsb10231188?page=389
  | language   = la, fr
  | oclc       = 13184910
}}<!-- {{Harvnb|Brisson|1762}} -->
* {{Cite journal
  | last    = Bryant
  | first   = P. J.
  | title   = Dating Remains of Gray Whales from the Eastern North Atlantic
  | year    = 1995
  | journal = Journal of Mammalogy
  | volume  = 76
  | issue   = 3
  | pages   = 857–861
  | jstor   = 1382754
  | doi     = 10.2307/1382754
}}<!-- {{Harvnb|Bryant|1995}} -->
* {{Cite journal
  | last1   = Deméré
  | first1  = T.A
  | last2   = Berta
  | first2  = A.
  | last3   = McGowen
  | first3  = M. R.
  | title   = The taxonomic and evolutionary history of fossil and modern balaenopteroid mysticetes
  | year    = 2005
  | journal = Journal of Mammalian Evolution
  | volume  = 12
  | issue   = 1/2
  | pages   = 99–143
  | url     = https://www.sdnhm.org/archive/research/paleontology/demere_2005.pdf
  | doi     = 10.1007/s10914-005-6944-3
| s2cid = 90231
 }}<!-- {{Harvnb|Deméré|Berta|McGowen|2005}} -->
* {{Cite journal
  | last       = Dudley
  | first      = P.
  | author-link = Paul Dudley (jurist)
  | title      = An Essay upon the Natural History of Whales, with a particular Account of the Ambergris found in the Sperma Ceti Whale. In a Letter to the Publisher, from the Honourable Paul Dudley, Esq; F. R. S
  | year       = 1725
  | journal    = Philosophical Transactions
  | volume     = 33
  | issue      = 387
  | pages      = 256–269
  | url        = https://archive.org/stream/philtrans04271050/04271050#page/n1/mode/2up
  | doi        = 10.1098/rstl.1724.0053
| s2cid = 186208376
 }}<!-- {{Harvnb|Dudley|1725}} -->
* {{Cite book
  | last1     = Ellerman
  | first1    = J. R. | author1-link = Sir John Ellerman, 2nd Baronet
  | last2     = Morrison-Scott
  | first2    = T. C. S. | author2-link = Terence Morrison-Scott
  | title     = Checklist of Palaearctic and Indian Mammals 1758 to 1946
  | year      = 1951
  | publisher = British Museum (Natural History)
  | pages     = 1–810
  | url       = https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/8722454#page/726/mode/2up
  | oclc      = 469669291
}}<!-- {{Harvnb|Ellerman|Morrison-Scott|1951}} -->
**{{cite web |title=J. R. Ellerman and T. C. S. Morrisson-Scott 1951 |website=Fossilworks |url=https://paleobiodb.org/classic/displayRefResults?reference_no=17152}}
* {{Cite book
  | last       = Erxleben
  | first      = J. C. P.
  | author-link = Johann Christian Polycarp Erxleben
  | title      = Systema regni animalis per classes, ordines, genera, species, varietates, cum synonymia et historia animalium. Classis 1: Mammalia
  | year       = 1777
  | publisher  = Weygandianis
  | location   = Leipzig
  | url        = https://archive.org/stream/iochristpolycerx00erxl#page/610/mode/2up
  | language   = la
  | oclc       = 22224991
  | ol         = 23666710M
}}<!-- {{Harvnb|Erxleben|1777}} -->
**{{cite web |title=''Eschrichtius'' Gray 1864 (gray whale) |website=Fossilworks |url=https://paleobiodb.org/classic/checkTaxonInfo?taxon_no=36714}}
* {{Cite journal
  | last       = Gray
  | first      = J. E.
  | author-link = John Edward Gray
  | title      = Notes on the Whalebone-Whales; with a Synopsis of the Species
  | year       = 1864
  | journal    = The Annals and Magazine of Natural History
  | series     = 3
  | volume     = 14
  | issue      = 83
  | pages      = 345–353
  | url        = https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/22249795#page/364/mode/2up
| doi      = 10.1080/00222936408681724
  }}<!-- {{Harvnb|Gray|1864}} -->
* {{Cite book
  | last1     = Jones
  | first1    = M. L.
  | last2     = Swartz
  | first2    = S. L.
  | chapter   = Gray whale
  | pages     = [https://archive.org/details/encyclopediamari00perr/page/n537 503]–511
  | title     = Encyclopedia of Marine Mammals
  | url     = https://archive.org/details/encyclopediamari00perr
  | url-access = limited
  | editor1-last  = Perrin
  | editor1-first = William F.
  | editor2-last  = Würsig
  | editor2-first = Bernd
  | editor3-last  = Thewissen
  | editor3-first = J. G. M.
  | year      = 2008
  | publisher = Academic Press
  | isbn      = 978-0-12-373553-9
}}<!-- {{Harvnb|Jones|Swartz|2008}} -->
* {{Cite book
  | last       = Lilljeborg
  | first      = W.
  | author-link = Wilhelm Lilljeborg
  | title      = Öfversigt af de inom Skandinavien (Sverige och Norrige) anträffade Hvalartade Däggdjur (Cetacea)
  | year       = 1861
  | language   = sv
  | url        = https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/item/53571#page/82/mode/2up
  | doi        = 10.5962/bhl.title.15843
  | oclc       = 670223335
}}<!-- {{Harvnb|Lilljeborg|1861}} -->
* {{Cite book
  | last      = Portis
  | first     = A.
  | title     = Catalogo descrittivo dei Talassoterii rinvenuti nei terreni terziarii del Piemonte e della Liguria
  | year      = 1885
  | location  = Turin
  | publisher = Ermanno Loescher
  | url       = https://archive.org/stream/catalogodescritt00port#page/16/mode/2up
  | language  = it
  | oclc      = 9527515
}}<!-- {{Harvnb|Portis|1885}} -->
**{{cite web |title=A. Portis 1886 |website=Fossilworks |url=https://paleobiodb.org/classic/displayRefResults?reference_no=13952}}
* {{Cite journal |author1-link=Nicholas Pyenson
  | last1   = Pyenson
  | first1  = N. D.
  | last2   = Lindberg
  | first2  = D. R.
  | title   = What Happened to Gray Whales during the Pleistocene? The Ecological Impact of Sea-Level Change on Benthic Feeding Areas in the North Pacific Ocean
  | year    = 2011
  | journal = PLOS ONE
  | volume  = 6
  | issue   = 7
  | pages   = e21295
  | doi     = 10.1371/journal.pone.0021295
  | pmid    = 21754984
  | pmc     = 3130736
| bibcode = 2011PLoSO...621295P
 | doi-access = free
 }}<!-- {{Harvnb|Pyenson|Lindberg|2011}} -->
* {{Cite journal
  | last       = Scammon
  | first      = C. M.
  | author-link = Charles Melville Scammon
  | title      = On the cetaceans of the western coast of North America
  | year       = 1869
  | journal    = Proceedings of the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia
  | volume     = 21
  | pages      = 13–63
  | jstor      = 4060095
}}<!-- {{Harvnb|Scammon|1869}} -->
* {{Cite book
  | last      = Scammon
  | first     = C. M.
  | title     = The marine mammals of the north-western coast of North America
  | year      = 1874
  | publisher = John H. Carmany and Co.
  | location  = San Franc.
  | chapter   = The California Gray Whale
  | pages     = 20–33
  | chapter-url       = https://archive.org/stream/marinemammalsofn00scam#page/n27/mode/2up
}}<!-- {{Harvnb|Scammon|1874}} -->
* {{Cite journal
  | last1   = Steeman
  | first1  = M. E.
  | last2   = Hebsgaard
  | first2  = M. B.
  | last3   = Fordyce
  | first3  = R. Ewan
  | last4   = Ho
  | first4  = S. Y. W.
  | last5   = Rabosky
  | first5  = D. L.
  | last6   = Nielsen
  | first6  = R.
  | last7   = Rahbek
  | first7  = C.
  | last8   = Glenner
  | first8  = H.
  | last9   = Sørensen
  | first9  = M. V.
  | last10  = Willerslev
  | first10 = E.
  | title   = Radiation of Extant Cetaceans Driven by Restructuring of the Oceans
  | year    = 2009
  | journal = Systematic Biology
  | volume  = 58
  | issue   = 6
  | pages   = 573–585
  | doi     = 10.1093/sysbio/syp060
  | pmid    = 20525610
  | pmc     = 2777972
}}<!-- {{Harvnb|Steeman|Hebsgaard|Fordyce|Ho|2009}} -->
* {{Cite journal
  | last     = Strobel
  | first    = P.
  | title    = Notizie preliminari su le Balenoptere fossili subappennine del Museo parmense
  | year     = 1875
  | journal  = Bollettino del R. Comitato Geologico d'Italia
  | volume   = 5
  | issue    = 6
  | pages    = 131–140
  | url      = https://archive.org/stream/bollettino11ditgoog#page/n554/mode/2up
  | language = it
}}<!-- {{Harvnb|Strobel|1875}} -->
**{{cite web |title=P. Strobel 1875 |website=Fossilworks |url=http://www.fossilworks.org/cgi-bin/bridge.pl?reference_no=18949&action=referenceInfo}}
* {{Cite book
  | last1     = Van Beneden
  | first1    = P. J.
  | author1-link = Pierre-Joseph van Beneden
  | last2     = Gervais
  | first2    = P.
  | author2-link = Paul Gervais
  | title     = Ostéographie des cétacés vivants et fossiles, comprenant la description et l'iconographie du squelette et du système dentaire de ces animaux; ainsi que des documents relatifs à leur histoire naturelle
  | year      = 1868
  | location  = Paris
  | publisher = A. Bertrand
  | url       = https://archive.org/stream/ostographiedes00ben#page/290/mode/2up
  | doi       = 10.5962/bhl.title.9521
}}<!-- {{Harvnb|Van Beneden|Gervais|1868}} -->
**{{cite web |title=P. J. Van Beneden and P. Gervais 1868 |website=Fossilworks |url=https://paleobiodb.org/classic/displayRefResults?reference_no=13984}}
* {{Cite book
  | last       = Weber
  | first      = M.
  | author-link = Max Carl Wilhelm Weber
  | title      = Die Säugetiere
  | year       = 1904
  | publisher  = G. Fischer
  | location   = Jena
  | language   = de
  | url        = https://archive.org/stream/diesugetiereei00webe#page/574/mode/2up
  | oclc       = 2662569
}}<!-- {{Harvnb|Weber|1904}} -->
**{{cite web |title=M. Weber 1904 |website=Fossilworks |url=http://www.fossilworks.org/cgi-bin/bridge.pl?a=referenceInfo&reference_no=36615}}
* {{Cite journal
  | last1   = Whitmore
  | first1  = F. C.
  | last2   = Kaltenbach
  | first2  = J. A.
  | title   = Neogene Cetacea of the Lee Creek Phosphate Mine, North Carolina
  | year    = 2008
  | journal = Virginia Museum of Natural History Special Publication
  | volume  = 14
  | pages   = 181–269
}}<!-- {{Harvnb|Whitmore|Kaltenbach|2008}} -->
**{{cite web |title=F. C. Whitmore and J. A. Kaltenbach 2008 |website=Fossilworks |url=https://paleobiodb.org/classic/displayRefResults?reference_no=26220}}
{{Refend}}

==External links==
*{{Commons category-inline|Eschrichtiidae}}
*{{Wikispecies-inline|Eschrichtiidae}}

{{Cetacea|M.}}
{{Portal bar|Cetaceans|Mammals|Animals|Biology|Marine Life|Paleontology}}
{{Taxonbar|from=Q898360}}
{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Eschrichtiidae| ]]
[[Category:Baleen whales]]
[[Category:Miocene cetaceans]]
[[Category:Pliocene cetaceans]]
[[Category:Pleistocene cetaceans]]
[[Category:Extant Miocene first appearances]]
[[Category:Mammal families]]