Paleontologists from the University of Otago have identified the ancient New Zealand Dawn Whale.

Their discovery is rewriting the history of New Zealand's whales, as they uncovered a previously unknown genus of fossil baleen whales and two species within it.

The new genus was named Tohoraata, which translates into 'Dawn Whale' in Maori. It was named by Otago Department of Geology PhD student Robert Boessenecker and his supervisor, Professor Ewan Fordyce.

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The researchers report the two whales lived from 25 to 27 million years ago. The fossils were preserved in a rock formation near Duntroon in North Otago.

When the whales were still alive, the continent of Zealandia was completely under water. The whales were deposited on a continental shelf that was between 50 to 100 meters deep.

The genus that the new-found fossils represent belongs to a toothless filter-feeding family known as Eomysticetidae. This is the first time members of its family have been identified within the Southern Hemisphere.

According to the researchers, the younger of the two whales, which could have descended from the elder one, was named Tohoraata raekohao, which means "holes in the forehead."

Boessenecker said the whales resemble minke whales but are more slender and serpent-like in form. The skull of the whale has a number of holes near its eye sockets for arteries and was probably two meters long.

The whole animal would have been eight meters long.

This new species differs from modern baleen whales in having a smaller braincase and a skull generally much more primitive. It has substantially larger attachments for jaw muscles. The lower jaw retains a very large cavity indicating its hearing capabilities were similar to archaic whales.

Since these whales are completely toothless, they're also the first known baleen whales -- and earliest known cetaceans -- to have completely relied on filter feeding.

Tagsnew zealand, Dawn While, Tohoraata