Waharoa (whale) facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Waharoa (whale) |
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| Holotype skull shown from above | |
Scientific classification  |
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| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Mammalia |
| Order: | Artiodactyla |
| Infraorder: | Cetacea |
| Family: | †Eomysticetidae |
| Genus: | †Waharoa Boessenecker and Fordyce, 2015 |
| Species | |
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Waharoa is an ancient type of baleen whale that lived a long, long time ago – about 25 to 27 million years ago! It was discovered in New Zealand and is a very important find. Scientists learned about Waharoa when they found a new species called Waharoa ruwhenua. This discovery helps us understand how modern baleen whales, like the huge blue whale, first started to feed.
What Was Waharoa Like?
Scientists studied the bones of Waharoa ruwhenua to learn about it. They found that its skull had some special features that were similar to other ancient whales. For example, it had wide, flat parts at the back of its skull.
One interesting thing about Waharoa ruwhenua was its snout, called a rostrum. Its snout was not as flexible as the snouts of modern baleen whales that don't have teeth. But it was much more flexible than the snouts of older whales that still had teeth. This means Waharoa had a snout that was just starting to become more flexible. This flexibility was important for how it ate.
How Did Waharoa Eat?
Waharoa ruwhenua had special plates in its mouth called baleen. Modern baleen whales use these plates to filter tiny food from the water. For Waharoa, these baleen plates were only in the back part of its mouth. This suggests that it didn't have baleen all the way to the front of its mouth like some modern whales do.
Scientists think that Waharoa ruwhenua probably ate by skim filter-feeding. This is a way of eating where the whale swims with its mouth open, letting water flow through its baleen plates to catch small creatures like zooplankton. It's like how some modern whales, such as the right whale, eat today.
Waharoa probably could not lunge-feed. Lunge-feeding is when a whale swims fast and gulps a huge amount of water and prey at once, like humpback whales do. The bones of Waharoa suggest it wasn't built for this powerful way of eating.
Who Lived with Waharoa?
Waharoa lived in the ocean alongside many other ancient sea creatures. These included other types of whales, both toothed whales (called odontocetes) and other baleen whales (called mysticetes). Some of its neighbors were:
