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Ziphius

Mammalia - Cetacea - Ziphiidae

Taxonomy
Ziphius was named by Cuvier (1824) [Sepkoski's age data: T Plio-l]. It is extant. It was considered monophyletic by Uhen et al. (2008), Lambert et al. (2009).

It was assigned to Hyperoodontina by Gray (1846); to Delphinidae by Gray (1850), Gray (1863); to Physeteridae by Palmer (1904); to Xiphii by Winge (1921); to Ziphiina by Moore (1968); to Ziphiini by Muizon (1990), Bianucci et al. (1994); to Hyperoodontidae by Scott (1873), McKenna and Bell (1997); to Cetacea by Pictet (1853), Sepkoski (2002); to Ziphiina by Gray (1865), Mead and Brownell (2005); to Ziphiidae by Gray (1866), Gray (1868), Gray (1871), Ameghino (1889), Simpson (1945), Ellerman and Morrisson-Scott (1951), Sherman (1952), Scheffer and Rice (1963), Barnes (1977), Vidal (1991), Geisler and Sanders (2003), Lambert (2005), Agnarsson and May-Collado (2008), Whitmore and Kaltenbach (2008), Uhen et al. (2008); and to Ziphiinae by Gill (1871), Gill (1872), Trouessart (1898), Trouessart (1904), Turner (1912), Zittel (1925), Weber (1928), Fraser and Purves (1960), Kasuya (1973), Rice (1998), Fordyce and de Muizon (2001), Bianucci et al. (2007), Lambert et al. (2009), Bianucci et al. (2010), Lambert et al. (2013), Ramassamy (2016), Marx et al. (2016), Lambert and Louwye (2016), Lambert et al. (2018), Bianucci et al. (2024).

Synonyms
Synonymy list
p. 1828 fig. 123
YearName and author
1824Ziphius Cuvier p. 350
1841Hypodon Haldemann p. 127
1846Ziphius Gray p. 27
1850Ziphius Gray p. 70
1853Ziphius Pictet p. 384
1863Ziphius Gray p. 200
1864Aliama Gray p. 242
1865Petrorhynchus Gray p. 524 figs. 2 plates
1865Aliama Gray p. 528
1865Petrorhynchus Gray p. 528
1865Ziphius Gray p. 529
1866Ziphiorrhynchus Burmeister p. 94 figs. Plate III
1866Petrorhynchus Gray p. 341
1866Ziphius Gray p. 348
1868Petrorhynchus Gray p. 9
1868Ziphius Gray p. 10
1871Ziphius Gill p. 126
1871Petrorhynchus Gray p. 98
1871Ziphius Gray p. 100
1872Ziphius Gill p. 96
1873Ziphius Scott p. 106
1889Ziphius Ameghino p. 887
1898Ziphius Trouessart p. 1061
1904Ziphiorrhynchus Palmer p. 715
1904Ziphius Palmer p. 716
1904Ziphius Trouessart p. 776
1912Ziphius Turner p. 77
1921Xiphius Winge p. 44
1925Ziphius Zittel p. 86
1928Ziphius Weber p. 389
1945Ziphius Simpson p. 102
1951Ziphius Ellerman and Morrisson-Scott p. 723
1952Ziphius Sherman p. 99
1960Ziphius Fraser and Purves p. 112 figs. Figure 26
1963Ziphius Scheffer and Rice p. 8
1968Ziphius Moore p. 276
1973Ziphius Kasuya p. 61
1977Ziphius Barnes p. 323 figs. Table 1
1990Ziphius Muizon p. 296
1991Ziphius Vidal p. 5
1994Ziphius Bianucci et al. p. 238
1997Ziphius McKenna and Bell p. 382
1998Ziphius Rice p. 86
2001Ziphius Fordyce and de Muizon p. 179
2002Ziphius Sepkoski
2003Ziphius Geisler and Sanders p. 29
2005Ziphius Lambert p. 445
2005Ziphius Mead and Brownell p. 743
2007Ziphius Bianucci et al. p. 570
2008Ziphius Agnarsson and May-Collado p. 981 figs. Fig. 5
2008Ziphius Uhen et al. p. 580
2008Ziphius Whitmore and Kaltenbach p. 215
2009Ziphius Lambert et al. p. 919 figs. Fig. 10
2010Ziphius Bianucci et al. p. 1093 figs. Figure 14
2013Ziphius Lambert et al. p. 588 figs. FIgure 14
2016Ziphius Lambert and Louwye figs. Figure 3
2016Ziphius Marx et al. p. 130
2016Ziphius Ramassamy p. 398 figs. Figure 17
2018Ziphius Lambert et al. p. 151
2024Ziphius Bianucci et al. p. 32

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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
—Amblyoccipita
—Stegoceti
familyZiphiidae
—Vomeroziphii
subfamilyZiphiinae
genusZiphius

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.

G. Ziphius Cuvier 1824
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Ziphius cavirostris Cuvier 1824 [Cuvier's beaked whale]
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Invalid names: Delphinorhynchus australis Burmeister 1865 [synonym], Delphinus desmarestii Risso 1826 [synonym], Epiodon chathamensis Hector 1873 [synonym], Epiodon cryptodon Gray 1868 [synonym], Hyperoodon capensis Gray 1865 [synonym], Hyperoodon doumetii Gray 1846 [synonym], Hyperoodon gervaisii Duvernoy 1851 [synonym], Hyperoodon semijunctus Cope 1865 [synonym], Petrorhynchus mediterraneus Gray 1871 [synonym], Ziphiorrhynchus cryptodon Burmeister 1866 [synonym], Ziphius australis Trouessart 1904 [synonym], Ziphius grebnitzkii Stejneger 1883 [synonym], Ziphius indicus Van Beneden 1863 [synonym]
†Ziphius compressus Owen 1870
Invalid names: Aliama Gray 1864 [synonym], Diodon Lesson [synonym], Hypodon Haldemann 1841 [synonym], Petrorhynchus Gray 1865 [synonym], Ziphiorrhynchus Burmeister 1866 [synonym]
Diagnosis
ReferenceDiagnosis
M. D. Uhen et al. 2008Broad deep cranium with high vertex; broad-based and relatively short toothless rostrum narrowing rapidly forward in posterior half; rostrum densely ossified, with deep prenarial basin, in adult males but not in females; large nasals overhang nares; single apical pair of mandibular teeth (based on True, 1910a, 1913; Heyning 1989b).
Measurements
partNmean

Composition: hydroxyapatitesubo
Form: roller-shapedo
Ontogeny: modification of partso
Environment: marine, freshwatersubo
Locomotion: actively mobileo
Life habit: aquatico
Depth habitat: surfaceo
Diet: piscivoref
Diet 2: carnivoref
Reproduction: viviparoussubo
Created: 2005-06-08 10:11:10
Modified: 2005-06-08 12:11:10
Source: f = family, subo = suborder, o = order
References: Nowak 1991, Uhen 2004

Age range

Maximum range based only on fossils: base of the Late/Upper Miocene to the top of the Holocene or 11.60800 to 0.00000 Ma
Minimum age of oldest fossil (stem group age): 5.333 Ma

Collections (22 total)


Time interval Ma Country or state Original ID and collection number
Middle Miocene - Pliocene15.97 - 2.588South Africa Z. sp. (77208)
Late/Upper Miocene11.608 - 5.333South Africa Z. sp. (77210)
Late/Upper Miocene11.608 - 5.333Portugal Diodon stenodus, Diodon sp. (56459)
Zanclean5.333 - 3.6USA (North Carolina) Z. cavirostris (52582)
Pliocene5.333 - 2.588Belgium (Antwerpen) Z. sp. (67029)
Pliocene - Pleistocene5.333 - 0.0117Spain (Teruel) Z. cavirostris (54185)
Gelasian2.588 - 1.806United Kingdom (England) Z. compressus (48093)
Pleistocene2.588 - 0.0117France (Bouches-du-Rhone) Z. cavirostris (86921)
Holocene0.0117 - 0.0Brazil Z. cavirostris (168353)
Holocene0.0117 - 0.0New Zealand Z. cavirostris (168358)
Holocene0.0117 - 0.0Mozambique Z. cavirostris (168356)
Holocene0.0117 - 0.0Peru Z. cavirostris (168361)
Holocene0.0117 - 0.0Portugal Z. cavirostris (168351)
Holocene0.0117 - 0.0USA (North Carolina) Z. cavirostris (65172)
Holocene0.0117 - 0.0India Z. cavirostris (168357)
Holocene0.0117 - 0.0Italy Z. cavirostris (168355)
Holocene0.0117 - 0.0South Africa Z. cavirostris (79916)
Holocene0.0117 - 0.0Angola Z. cavirostris (168352)
Holocene0.0117 - 0.0Mexico (Baja California) Z. cavirostris (201786)
Holocene0.0117 - 0.0Japan Z. cavirostris (168359)
Holocene0.0117 - 0.0Mexico Z. cavirostris (168360)
Holocene0.0117 - 0.0USA (Florida) Z. cavirostris (168354)