Marzanoptera, Bisconti & Damarco & Pavia & Sorce & Carnevale, 2021

Bisconti, Michelangelo, Damarco, Piero, Pavia, Marco, Sorce, Barbara & Carnevale, Giorgio, 2021, Marzanoptera tersillae, a new balaenopterid genus and species from the Pliocene of Piedmont, north-west Italy, Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society 192, pp. 1253-1292 : 1276-1277

GENUS MARZANOPTERA GEN. NOV.

Zoobank registration: urn:lsid:zoobank.org:act:05BDA848-EFA3-49DB-BA71-DF9762DEAB27

Etymology: The genus name is composed of Marzano -, shortened from San Marzanotto, the locality of the discovery of the holotype skeleton, and the Greek φτερό, wing, referring to the wide and long forearms of balaenopterid whales.

Type species: Marzanoptera tersillae sp. nov.

Diagnosis: Marzanoptera is characterized by the following unique combination of character states: remarkably short premaxilla, strongly narrowed ascending process of the maxilla, the lack of ossification of the superior portion of the internal acoustic meatus, the presence of an anteroposteriorly thick crista transversa separating the internal acoustic meatus and the internal opening of the facial canal, and a comparatively low opening of the internal opening of the facial canal.

Differential diagnosis: Marzanoptera is assigned to Balaenopteridae because it shows elongated ascending processes of the maxillae that do not converge towards the longitudinal axis of the skull posteriorly and that form a right angle with the posterolateral border of the maxillae; wide, flat and abruptly depressed supraorbital process of the frontal; parietal interdigitated with ascending process of the maxilla; transversely and anteroposteriorly elongated pars cochlearis of the periotic; and triangular anterior process of the periotic. Marzanoptera differs from Balaenoptera because it shows transversely narrow ascending processes of the maxillae, strongly compressed supraoccipital along the transverse axis, lack of exposure of the alisphenoid in the temporal fossa, lack of the superior part of the internal acoustic meatus, and internal opening of the facial canal located far from the internal acoustic meatus. Marzanoptera differs from Megaptera in showing anteriorly oriented posterior border of the supraorbital process of the frontal, anterior border of the supraorbital process of the frontal only slightly oriented posteriorly, and gently descending suprameatal area in the periotic. Marzanoptera differs from Archaebalaenoptera in showing a wider anterior portion of the supraoccipital, more marked posterior inclination of the anterior border of the supraorbital process of the frontal, shorter nasal bones with lateral edge located more anteriorly than the medial border, postglenoid process of the squamosal projected ventrally, and squared interorbital region of the frontal in cross-section. Marzanoptera differs from Plesiobalaenoptera in showing lack of ossification in the suprameatal area of the periotic immediately dorsal to the internal acoustic meatus, in showing widely separated internal openings of the facial canal and internal acoustic meatus, in lacking the dorsal bulge of the periotic, and in having a comparatively longer ascending process of the maxilla. Marzanoptera differs from Incakujira Marx & Kohno, 2016 in having a supraoccipital with a strong transverse compression, shorter zygomatic process of the maxilla, and in having the round window confluent in the opening for the endolymphatic duct. Marzanoptera differs from Fragilicetus in the lack of ossification of the superior portion of the internal acoustic meatus, in having a strong transverse compression of the supraoccipital and in the lack of exposure of the alisphenoid in the temporal fossa.

Note: Our results allowed us to assess the taxonomic positions of a number of fossil balaenopterid taxa, leading us to propose new taxonomic combinations. As we discuss later in this paper, ‘ Balaenoptera ’ bertae was also placed in this genus as Marzanoptera bertae .

Referred species: Marzanoptera bertae ( Boessenecker, 2013) , comb. nov., from the Late Neogene Purisima Formation , California ( Boessenecker, 2013), and the type species Marzanoptera tersillae .