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The First Finding of Basilosauridae (Mammalia: Cetacea) in the Upper Eocene of the Baltic States (Russia, Kaliningrad Region)

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Abstract

Remains of a fossil cetacean, belonging to the family Basilosauridae, are for the first time found in the territory of the Baltic States. This finding is represented by a large vertebra and comes from the Late Eocene amber-bearing “Blue Ground” bed of the Sambia Peninsula in the Kaliningrad Region. The described fossil expands our knowledge on paleogeography and stratigraphic occurrence of Basilosauridae.

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ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

The authors are grateful to M.A. Popova (KRMHA) for providing fossil material from the museum.

Funding

This work was carried out in the framework of the state assignment to the Institute of Oceanology of the Russian Academy of Sciences (project no. 0149-2019-0013) (main locality data), with partial support from Russian Foundation for Basic Research (project no. 19-04-00057 (description of the material on cetaceans)) and the Russian Foundation for Basic Research and the Government of the Kaliningrad Region (project no. 19-45-390001 (stratigraphic data)), programs of the Presidium of the Russian Academy of Sciences “Evolution of the Organic World. The Role and Influence of Planetary Processes” (localities of basilosaurids).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Shirshov Institute of Oceanology, Russian Academy of Sciences, 117218, Moscow, Russia

    E. V. Mychko

  2. Museum of the World Ocean, 236006, Kaliningrad, Russia

    E. V. Mychko

  3. Borissiak Paleontological Institute, Russian Academy of Sciences, 117647, Moscow, Russia

    E. V. Mychko & K. K. Tarasenko

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  1. E. V. Mychko
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  2. K. K. Tarasenko
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Correspondence to E. V. Mychko or K. K. Tarasenko.

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Translated by S. Nikolaeva

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Mychko, E.V., Tarasenko, K.K. The First Finding of Basilosauridae (Mammalia: Cetacea) in the Upper Eocene of the Baltic States (Russia, Kaliningrad Region). Paleontol. J. 54, 311–318 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1134/S0031030120030119

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