Basic info Taxonomic history Classification Included Taxa
Morphology Ecology and taphonomy External Literature Search Age range and collections

Kogia breviceps (pygmy sperm whale)

Mammalia - Cetacea - Kogiidae

Taxonomy
Physeter breviceps was named by Blainville (1838) [no type specimen listed by Blainville 1838]. It is extant. Its type specimen is MNHM unnumbered specimen, a skull. Its type locality is Cape of Good Hope, which is in a Holocene coastal horizon in South Africa. It is the type species of Kogia.

It was recombined as Kogia breviceps by Gray (1846), Gray (1850), Gray (1866), Gray (1868), Gray (1871), Gill (1871), Scott (1873), Van Beneden and Gervais (1880), Trouessart (1904), Oliver (1922), Schulte (1937), Sherman (1952), Scheffer and Rice (1963), Hershkovitz (1966), Barnes (1977), Pilleri (1987), Vidal (1991), Rice (1998), Kazár (2002), Mead and Brownell (2005), Bloodworth and Odell (2008), Agnarsson and May-Collado (2008), Uhen et al. (2008), Velez-Juarbe et al. (2015).

Subspecies
Kogia brevirostris
Sister species
K. brevirostris

Synonyms
Synonymy list
YearName and author
1838Physeter breviceps Blainville p. 337 figs. Plate 10
1846Kogia breviceps Gray p. 22
1850Kogia breviceps Gray p. 53
1851Euphysetes grayii MacLeay p. 37
1865Euphysetes grayii Gray p. 529
1865Kogia brevirostris Gray p. 529
1865Euphysetes macleayi Kreft
1866Kogia breviceps Gray p. 217
1866Kogia grayii Gray p. 218
1866Kogia macleayii Gray p. 391
1868Euphysetes grayii Gray p. 4
1868Kogia breviceps Gray p. 4
1868Kogia macleayii Gray p. 4
1871Kogia breviceps Gill p. 738
1871Kogia floweri Gill p. 738
1871Kogia grayi Gill p. 738
1871Kogia macleayi Gill p. 738
1871Kogia breviceps Gray p. 60
1871Euphysetes grayii Gray p. 61
1871Kogia macleayii Gray p. 61
1873Euphysetes pottsii Haast p. 100
1873Kogia breviceps Scott p. 108
1873Kogia grayi Scott p. 108
1880Kogia breviceps Van Beneden and Gervais p. 349
1884Kogia goodie True
1904Kogia breviceps Trouessart p. 774
1922Kogia breviceps Oliver p. 566
1937Kogia breviceps Schulte p. 364
1952Kogia breviceps Sherman p. 99
1963Kogia breviceps Scheffer and Rice p. 8
1966Kogia breviceps Hershkovitz p. 113
1977Kogia breviceps Barnes p. 323 figs. Table 1
1987Kogia breviceps Pilleri p. 53
1991Kogia breviceps Vidal p. 5
1998Kogia breviceps Rice p. 84
2002Kogia breviceps Kazár p. 163
2005Kogia breviceps Mead and Brownell p. 737
2008Kogia breviceps Agnarsson and May-Collado p. 981 figs. Fig. 5
2008Kogia breviceps Bloodworth and Odell p. 1
2008Kogia breviceps Uhen et al. p. 574
2015Kogia breviceps Velez-Juarbe et al. p. 15 figs. Fig. 10

Is something missing? Join the Paleobiology Database and enter the data

RankNameAuthor
kingdomAnimalia()
—Bilateria
—EubilateriaAx 1987
—Deuterostomia
phylumChordataHaeckel 1874
subphylumVertebrata
superclassGnathostomata
—Osteichthyes()
subclassSarcopterygii()
subclassDipnotetrapodomorpha(Nelson 2006)
subclassTetrapodomorpha()
—Tetrapoda
—Reptiliomorpha
—Anthracosauria
subclassAmphibiosauriaKuhn 1967
—Cotylosauria()
—Amniota
subclassSynapsida
—Therapsida()
infraorderCynodontia()
—Mammaliamorpha
—Mammaliaformes
classMammalia
RankNameAuthor
—Cladotheria
—Zatheria
subclassTribosphenida()
subclassTheria
—Eutheria()
—Placentalia
—Boreoeutheria
—Laurasiatheria
—Scrotifera
—Euungulata
—Artiodactylamorpha
—Artiodactyla()
—Whippomorpha
orderCetacea
—Pelagiceti
—Neoceti
suborderOdontoceti
superfamilyPhyseteroidea
familyKogiidae
subfamilyKogiinae
genusKogia
speciesbreviceps(Blainville 1838)

If no rank is listed, the taxon is considered an unranked clade in modern classifications. Ranks may be repeated or presented in the wrong order because authors working on different parts of the classification may disagree about how to rank taxa.

Kogia breviceps Blainville 1838 [pygmy sperm whale]
show all | hide all
Invalid names: Euphysetes grayii MacLeay 1851 [synonym], Euphysetes pottsii Haast 1873 [synonym], Kogia brevirostris Gray 1865 [invalid subgroup], Kogia floweri Gill 1871 [synonym], Kogia goodie True 1884 [synonym], Kogia macleayii Kreft 1865 [synonym]
Diagnosis
No diagnoses are available
Measurements
partNmean

Composition: hydroxyapatitesubo
Form: roller-shapedo
Ontogeny: modification of partso
Environment: marine, freshwatersubo
Locomotion: actively mobileo
Life habit: aquatico
Depth habitat: surfaceo
Diet: carnivoresubo
Reproduction: viviparoussubo
Created: 2005-03-06 14:21:39
Modified: 2005-09-22 15:42:08
Source: subo = suborder, o = order
Reference: Uhen 2004

Age range

Maximum range based only on fossils: base of the Zanclean to the top of the Holocene or 5.33300 to 0.00000 Ma
Minimum age of oldest fossil (stem group age): 3.6 Ma

Collections (18 total)


Time interval Ma Country or state Original ID and collection number
Zanclean5.333 - 3.6USA (North Carolina) Kogia breviceps (52582)
Piacenzian3.6 - 2.58Italy Kogia breviceps (47428)
Holocene0.0117 - 0.0South Africa Kogia breviceps (168344 168345) Physeter breviceps (type locality: 86897)
Holocene0.0117 - 0.0Peru Kogia breviceps (168350)
Holocene0.0117 - 0.0New Caledonia Kogia breviceps (83457 83460 83476 83477 83478)
Holocene0.0117 - 0.0New Zealand Kogia breviceps (168347)
Holocene0.0117 - 0.0Japan Kogia breviceps (168348)
Holocene0.0117 - 0.0USA (Maine) Kogia breviceps (168342)
Holocene0.0117 - 0.0United Kingdom Kogia breviceps (168341)
Holocene0.0117 - 0.0Brazil Kogia breviceps (168343)
Holocene0.0117 - 0.0Mexico Kogia breviceps (168349)
Holocene0.0117 - 0.0India Kogia breviceps (168346)