View source for Horopeta

{{Short description|Extinct genus of whales}}
{{Automatic taxobox
| fossil_range = [[Late Oligocene]], {{fossil range|27|25}}
| image = Horopeta NT.jpg
| image_caption = Restoration of ''Horopet''a
| taxon = Horopeta
| authority = Tsai and [[Ewan Fordyce|Fordyce]], 2015
| subdivision_ranks = Species
| subdivision = * ''H. umarere'' <small>Tsai and Fordyce, 2015</small> ([[type species|type]])
}}
'''''Horopeta''''' is a genus of [[baleen whale]] from the Late Oligocene ([[Chattian]]) [[Kokoamu Greensand]] of [[New Zealand]].
==Description==
''Horopeta'' can be distinguished from other balaenomorphs in the following characters: base of frontal sloping moderately from skull midline; parietal considerably exposed at sagittal crest; parietal largely exposed at sagittal crest; unfused and short posterior process of periotic and tympanic bulla; prominent superior process of periotic; presence of elliptical foramen and sigmoidal cavity in tympanic bulla; unfused and short posterior processes of periotic and tympanic bulla; a distinct pedicle plate situated in fovea epitubaria; presence of horizontal cleft, elliptical foramen, and sigmoidal cavity in tympanic bulla.<ref name=Horopeta>Cheng-Hsiu Tsai; R. Ewan Fordyce (2015). "The Earliest Gulp-Feeding Mysticete (Cetacea: Mysticeti) from the Oligocene of New Zealand". Journal of Mammalian Evolution 22 (4): 535–560. doi:10.1007/s10914-015-9290-0.</ref>
==Classification==
Initial cladistic analysis recovered ''Horopeta'' as either a basal balaenomorph or a basal cetotheriid, although the describers noted that the juvenile nature of the holotype might influence its cladistic position within Chaeomysticeti. Later cladistic analyses corroborated the placement of ''Horopeta'' outside crown Mysticeti.<ref name=Horopeta/><ref>Tsai, C.H., Fordyce R.E., 2016. Archaic baleen whale from the Kokoamu Greensand: earbones distinguish a new late Oligocene mysticete (Cetacea: Mysticeti) from New Zealand. Journal of the Royal Society of New Zealand. doi:10.1080/03036758.2016.1156552</ref><ref>Carlos Mauricio Peredo; Mark D. Uhen (2016). "A new basal chaeomysticete (Mammalia: Cetacea) from the Late Oligocene Pysht Formation of Washington, USA". Papers in Palaeontology. Online edition. doi:10.1002/spp2.1051</ref>
==Paleobiology==
Based on the structure of the jaw, ''Horopeta'' was one of the earliest chaeomysticetes capable of gulp-feeding as in extant mysticetes.<ref name=Horopeta/> The same deposits that yielded ''Horopeta'' have also yielded the primitive odontocetes ''[[Awamokoa]]'', ''[[Austrosqualodon]]'', ''[[Otekaikea]]'', and ''[[Waipatia]]'', the [[Eomysticetidae|eomysticetids]] ''[[Matapanui]]'', ''[[Tohoraata]]'', ''[[Tokarahia]]'', and ''[[Waharoa (whale)|Waharoa]]'', and the balaenomorphs ''[[Mauicetus]]'' and ''[[Whakakai]]''.
==References==
{{Reflist}}
{{Mysticeti Genera|M.|state=collapsed}}
{{Taxonbar|from=Q28182611}}
[[Category:Oligocene cetaceans]]
[[Category:Extinct animals of New Zealand]]
[[Category:Monotypic prehistoric cetacean genera]]