Balaenella is an extinct genus of balaenid whale known from the early Pliocene of what is now Antwerp, Belgium. The type species is Balaena brachyrhynus.
Classification A cladistic analysis of Balaenidae places Balaenella as the sister taxon of the modern bowhead whale in a clade separate from right whales.Bisconti, M. (2005). "Skull Morphology and Phylogenetic Relationships of a New Diminutive Balaenid from the Lower Pliocene of Belgium". Palaeontology 48 (4): 793–816. doi:10.1111/j.1475-4983.2005.00488.x. edit
Palaeobiology A partial skull attributed to B. brachyrhynus from the Kattendijk Formation shows evidence of bite marks made by a bluntnose sixgill shark. It is hypothesized that these bite marks may have occurred on an upside-down, floating carcass, which could indicate a scavenging event.
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