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Paraphyly edit
A mitochondrial DNA analysis by Hassanin et. al. (2012) recovers Balaenoptera as paraphyletic relative to the Gray Whale and the Humpback Whale. Rather than sink the latter two species into Balaenoptera, the authors resurrect the genus Pterobalaena Eschricht, 1849 for the minke whales and Rorqualus F. Cuvier, 1836 for the blue, Omura's, sei, Bryde's, and Eden's whales. It remains to be seen if this novel generic scheme is accepted but it would mean that minke whales may be more primitive than traditionally thought.
Hassanin A., Delsuc F., Ropiquet A., Hammer C., Janssen van Vuuren B., Matthee C., Ruiz-Garcia M., Catzeflis F., Areskoug V., Nguyen T.T. & Couloux A. (2012). Pattern and timing of diversification of Cetartiodactyla (Mammalia, Laurasiatheria), as revealed by a comprehensive analysis of mitochondrial genomes. Comptes Rendus Biologies 335: 32-50. 68.4.28.33 (talk) 02:35, 17 November 2012 (UTC)Vahe Demirjian