Right whales (Balaenidae) are the most distinctive family of extant baleen whales, thanks to their highly arched rostrum, tall lips and robust body shape. They are also the oldest, originating as much as 20 million years ago (Ma). Nevertheless, their fossil record is patchy and frequently understudied, obscuring their evolution. Here, we describe a new stem balaenid, Antwerpibalaena liberatlas, from northern Belgium, adding to the rich but historically problematic baleen whale assemblage of the Pliocene North Sea. Within right whales, Antwerpibalaena forms a clade with two previously described extinct genera, Balaenella and Balaenula. The holotype preserves much of the postcranial skeleton, and informs the emergence of typical balaenid traits like fused neck vertebrae and paddle-shaped flippers. Its size is intermediate between that of extant right whales and most of their extinct forebears revealing a more complex pattern of balaenid size evolution than previously thought.

http://zoobank.org/urn:lsid:zoobank.org:pub:A0070739-C6A3-42DE-B0A4-B309EF18DAFE

右鲸（Balaenidae）是现存的须鲸的最独特家族，这要归功于它们的高度拱形的讲台，高大的嘴唇和坚固的身体形状。它们也是最古老的，起源于2000万年前（马）。然而，它们的化石记录不完整且经常被研究不足，从而掩盖了它们的进化。在这里，我们描述了一种来自比利时北部的新的茎状鱼鳞茎，Antwerpibalaenaena liberatlas，增加了上新世北海丰富但历史上有问题的须鲸组合。在右鲸中，安特卫普巴拉那形成了一个由两个先前已灭绝的属巴拉那拉和巴拉那拉组成的进化枝。整型保留了大部分颅后骨骼，并提示了典型的脑袋状特征的出现，例如融合的颈椎和桨状鳍状肢。它的大小介于现存的右鲸和绝种的大多数前额之间，显示出比先前认为的更为复杂的b鳞大小演化模式。

http://zoobank.org/urn:lsid:zoobank.org:pub:A0070739-C6A3-42DE-B0A4-B309EF18DAFE