| Incakujira | |
|---|---|
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| Holotype specimen exhibited atGamagori,Japan | |
Scientific classification | |
| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Mammalia |
| Order: | Artiodactyla |
| Infraorder: | Cetacea |
| Superfamily: | Balaenopteroidea |
| Family: | Balaenopteridae |
| Genus: | †Incakujira Marx & Kohno, 2016 |
| Species | |
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Incakujira (meaning Inca whale) is agenus ofrorqual whales that lived during theLate Miocene epoch in what are now the coasts ofPeru, about 8 million to 7.3million years ago. It contains two species,Incakujira anillodefuego andIncakujira fordycei. The type species,I. anillodefuego, was named and described in 2016. The second species was described in 2024. All known specimens have been found in the sediments of thePisco Formation ofPeru, which dates to the LateMiocene.
Incakujira differs from other rorquals (fossil and extant) in having a less attenuated rostrum and the features of the maxilla, supraorbital, and remainder of the cranium.Kujira in the genus name means "whale" in Japanese.[1][2]
The twisted postglenoid process of the squamosal suggests that the lunge-feeding capabilities ofIncakujira were not as great as those of extant rorquals, and thatIncakujira itself also pursued additionalkrill-feeding strategies like skimming.[1]
Media related toIncakujira at Wikimedia Commons
Data related toIncakujira at Wikispecies
