Dear colleagues We are pleased to announce a new article, considering the early gigantism in baleen whales.
The full text could be viewed and/or downloaded here: http://rdcu.be/kMlY <http://em.rdcu.be/wf/click?upn=KP7O1RED-2BlD0F9LDqGVeSD4xo-2B-2BnyZ8i-2Byk3kg7x4E4-3D_sdX2RjGuq6bOgQLctmRcBXdr6jC1li5BUg226G0f598KlFysHoZCOqXxlaKNBG5wbnIoUymPdoN5bjVm-2FJlGJStsm5zAonCGYkqEDOvDNPW0d0mrKAoSBPqqGbz97p-2FoaX-2FVe0lk2Qz-2FzpdGAfK0c6QapOpAjSsVJzUDWcoOo-2FZ-2Bv0OdGwmm7xtVz4tkDGQ8b15Whd9-2BLylsaQRl0Le4xexUn7lQ2RuY1GIQxo4eDyA-3D> or http://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s00114-016-1417-5 Alternatively, please email me: [email protected] or [email protected] Abstract Living baleen whales (Mysticeti) include the world’s largest animals to have ever lived—blue whales (*Balaenoptera musculus*) can reach more than 30 m. However, the gigantism in baleen whales remains little explored. Here, we compiled all published stem mysticetes from the Eocene and Oligocene and then mapped the estimated body size onto different phylogenies that suggest distinct evolutionary histories of baleen whales. By assembling all known stem baleen whales, we present three novel findings in early mysticete evolution. Results show that, regardless of different phylogenetic scenarios, large body size (more than 5-m long) evolved multiple times independently in their early evolutionary history. For example, the earliest known aetiocetid (*Fucaia buelli*, 33–31 Ma) was small in size, about 2 m, and a later aetiocetid (*Morawanocetus*-like animal, 26–23 Ma) can reach 8-mlong—almost four times the size of *Fucaia buelli*—suggesting an independent gigantism in the aetiocetid lineage. In addition, our reconstruction of ancestral state demonstrates that the baleen whales originated from small body size (less than 5 m) rather than large body size as previously acknowledged. Moreover, reconstructing the evolution of body size in stem baleen whales suggests that the initial pulse of mysticete gigantism started at least back to the Paleogene and in turn should help to understand the origin, pattern, and process of the extreme gigantism in the crown baleen whales. This study illustrates that Cope’s rule is insufficient to explain the evolution of body size in a group that comprises the largest animals in the history of life, although currently the lack of exact ancestor-descendant relationships remains to fully reveal the evolutionary history of body size. Regards and all the best, Tsai -- 蔡政修（Cheng-Hsiu Tsai さい まさのぶ) JSPS Postdoctoral Research Fellow (JSPS: Japan Society for the Promotion of Science 日本學術振興會) Department of Geology and Paleontology, National Museum of Nature and Science (Tsukuba Research Center) 4-1-1 Amakubo, Tsukuba-shi, Ibaraki 305-0005, Japan Email: [email protected]; [email protected]
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