A late Miocene balaenopterid petrotympanic from Liessel (The Netherlands)

In 2020 a new fossil species of rorqual (Balaenopteridae) was described as Archaeobalaenoptera liesselensis Bisconti, Munsterman, Fraaije, Bosselaers & Post, 2020 from a sandpit in Liessel (Province of Noord-Brabant, The Netherlands) based on a skull stored in the Oertijdmuseum in Boxtel. The collection of Museum Klok & Peel in Asten (The Netherlands) holds a well preserved unidentified rorqual petrotympanic from the same sandpit. A comparative study of this important skull element showed that it probably belongs to the same species. Our comparison also proved again that during the late Tortonian at least two, maybe even more, different rorqual species were already frequenting the southern North Sea Basin.