Physeter macrocephalus Linnaeus 1758 (sperm whale)

Mammalia - Cetacea - Physeteridae

Alternative combination: Catodon macrocephalus

Synonyms: Catodon australis MacLeay 1851, Catodon colneti Gray 1850, Catodon polycyphus Quoy and Gaimard 1824, Catodon svineval Lacépède 1804, Catodon trumpo Lacépède 1804, Meganeuron krefftii Gray 1866, Megistosaurus ensiformis Godman 1827, Physalus cylindricus Lacépède 1804, Physeter australasianus Desmoulins 1822, Physeter australis Gray 1846, Physeter catodon Linnaeus 1758, Physeter mular Lacépède 1804, Physeter orthodon Lacépède 1804, Physeter polycyphus Quoy and Gaimard 1824, Physeter tursio Linnaeus 1758

Full reference: C. Linnaeus. 1758. Systema Naturae per Regna Tria Naturae, Secundum Classes, Ordines, Genera, Species, cum Characteribus, Differentiis, Synonymis, Locis. Editio Decima 1:1-824

Belongs to Physeter according to J. Velez-Juarbe et al. 2015

See also Agnarsson and May-Collado 2008, Ameghino 1889, Barnes 1977, Cope 1890, Dal Piaz 1929, De Kay 1842, Fischer 1829, Fordyce 1982, Geisler et al. 2011, Gervais 1852, Gervais 1859, Godman 1827, Gray 1821, Gray 1846, Gray 1846, Gray 1850, Gray 1864, Gray 1866, Gray 1868, Harlan 1828, Hay 1902, Hay 1930, Hershkovitz 1966, Lacépède 1804, Linnaeus 1758, Lydekker 1887, Marx 2011, Mead and Brownell 2005, Newton 1891, Oliver 1922, Ormezzano and Lanzetti 2014, Pilleri 1987, Rice 1998, Scheffer and Rice 1963, Sherman 1952, Thomas 1911, Trouessart 1904, Turner 1912 and Vidal 1991

Sister taxa: Physeter antiquus, Physeter vetus

Type specimens:

  • Physeter macrocephalus: Its type locality is Kariston, which is in a Holocene coastal horizon in the United Kingdom
  • Catodon australis:
  • Catodon colneti:
  • Catodon polycyphus:
  • Catodon svineval:
  • Catodon trumpo:
  • Meganeuron krefftii:
  • Megistosaurus ensiformis:
  • Physalus cylindricus:
  • Physeter australasianus:
  • Physeter australis:
  • Physeter catodon: Its type locality is Kariston, which is in a Holocene coastal horizon in the United Kingdom.
  • Physeter mular:
  • Physeter orthodon:
  • Physeter tursio:

Ecology: aquatic carnivore

Distribution:

• Quaternary of Angola (1 collection), Antarctica (1), Brazil (1), Denmark (2), France (1), French Polynesia (1), Greenland (1), India (1), Italy (4), Japan (2), Mexico (1), Morocco (1), New Caledonia (17), New Zealand (1), Peru (1), Portugal (1), Somalia (1), Spain (2), Svalbard and Jan Mayen (1), the United Kingdom (2), United States (2: California, North Carolina)

• Pliocene of Italy (2), South Africa (1), United States (1: North Carolina)

• Miocene to Pleistocene of the Netherlands (1)

Total: 50 collections including 52 occurrences

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Specimen images are retrieved through the ePANDDA API.


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