biology

Glaucabalaena

Glaucabalaena is a biology topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Glaucabalaena rather than just read about it. In short: Glaucabalaena is an extinct genus of gray whale that lived during the Pliocene epoch. The genus is known from a single species, Glaucabalaena inopinata, which was described in 2024 by Michelangelo Bisconti and colleagues based on the holotype specimen MGPT-PU 19512.

Key takeaways

Glaucabalaena belongs to biology; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Glaucabalaena to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Glaucabalaena from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

Glaucabalaena is an extinct genus of gray whale that lived during the Pliocene epoch. The genus is known from a single species, Glaucabalaena inopinata, which was described in 2024 by Michelangelo Bisconti and colleagues based on the holotype specimen MGPT-PU 19512. This specimen consists of fragments of the skull and mandible, and was recovered from the Sabbie d'Asti Formation of Piedmont, Italy.

Etymology The genus name Glaucabalaena is a combination of glauca, from the Latin glaucus, which means 'gray', and balaena, which means 'whale'. The specific name, inopinata, is from the Latin word inopinatus, meaning 'unexpected'. The type species name is so because Bisconti stated that he and his colleagues did not expect to find a second gray whale species from Pliocene-era Piedmont.

References

Illustrations

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Glaucabalaena

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Glaucabalaena claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In biology, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Glaucabalaena before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Glaucabalaena ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Glaucabalaena

In research: Glaucabalaena appears in biology research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Glaucabalaena in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Glaucabalaena is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics Eschrichtiidae, Fossil taxa described in 2024, Fossils of Italy, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Glaucabalaena outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

Ask Teacher Smith questions about this articleOpens your AI tutor with a question about “Glaucabalaena” →

Affiliate

Preply — study more efficiently by working with a personal tutor. 50% off.

How to study Glaucabalaena in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Glaucabalaena means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Glaucabalaena out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Glaucabalaena in simple terms?

Why does Glaucabalaena matter?

Because it connects several biology ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Glaucabalaena?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Glaucabalaena.