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Livyatan is an extinct genus of macroraptorial sperm whale containing one known species: L. melvillei. The genus name was inspired by the biblical sea monster Leviathan, and the species name by Herman Melville, the author of the famous novel Moby-Dick about a white bull sperm whale. Herman Melville often referred to whales as "Leviathans" in ...
Macroraptorial sperm whales occupied the same niche as killer whales (Orcinus orca). Using their large and deeply rooted teeth, wide-opening jaws, and great size, they likely fed on a variety of sea life, including fish, cephalopods, seals, and small whales and dolphins, occupying a niche similar to the modern day killer whale (Orcinus orca).
Scaldicetus is an extinct genus of highly predatory macroraptorial sperm whale.Although widely used for a number of extinct physeterids with primitive dental morphology consisting of enameled teeth, Scaldicetus as generally recognized appears to be a wastebasket taxon filled with more-or-less unrelated primitive sperm whales.
The lumbar vertebrae were elongated and may have supported large multifidus and longissimus muscles in the back, likely larger than the modern sperm whale, and so it probably swam faster than the modern sperm whale; [1] the modern sperm whale typically travels horizontally at 4 kilometers per hour (2.5 mph), comparable to other large open-ocean ...
Scientists studying the sperm whales that live around the Caribbean island of Dominica have described for the first time the basic elements of how they might be talking to each other, in an effort ...
Acrophyseter is a genus of extinct sperm whale that lived in the Late Miocene off the coast of what is now Peru. The genus comprises two species: A. deinodon and A. robustus.It is part of a group of macroraptorial sperm whales that all share several features for hunting large prey, such as deeply rooted and thick teeth.
A sperm whale skeleton. The ribs are bound to the spine by flexible cartilage, which allows the ribcage to collapse rather than snap under high pressure. [52] While sperm whales are well adapted to diving, repeated dives to great depths have long-term effects. Bones show the same avascular necrosis that signals decompression sickness in humans ...
Kogia pusilla is an extinct species of sperm whale from the Middle Pliocene of Italy. related to the modern-day dwarf sperm whale (K. sima) and pygmy sperm whale (K. breviceps). It is known from a single skull discovered in 1877, and was considered a species of beaked whale until 1997. The skull shares many characteristics with other sperm ...