Family 7. PHYSETERIDÆ.
Physeterina, Gray, l. c. pp. 386, 390.
Physeteridæ, Gray, Synops. Whales & Dolph. p. 4.
Head depressed, rounded in front. Blowers linear (often only the one on the left side open), at the back of the forehead. Mouth small, inferior, rounded. Dorsal fin compressed, falcate. Pectoral fin elongate, falcate. Skull short; crown concave; hinder part of the wall formed by the maxillaries, and divided, as it were, into two subequal parts by a central bony ridge, which is more or less twisted towards the right side. Upper jaw toothless. Atlas and cervical vertebræ all united into a solid mass.
1. PHYSETER.
Physeter, Gray, l. c. pp. 196, 210, 386; Synops. Whales & Dolph. p. 4.
Head large, rather depressed in front. Skull ⸺?
Only known from Sibbald’s description, which, like his others, is very specific; and all his other accounts of animals have been proved to be correct.
Mr. Flower has no faith in Sibbald’s account of this animal, and says, “If the Linnæan genus Physeter is to be kept in abeyance until the rediscovery of Sibbald’s ‘Balæna macrocephala tripinna,’ it is to be feared that it may ultimately disappear altogether from zoological literature.”—Trans. Zool. Soc. vol. vi. p. 369.
1. Physeter tursio.
Physeter tursio, Linn., Gray, l. c. p. 212; Synops. Whales & Dolph. p. 4.
Inhab. North Sea, Scotland (Sibbald, 1687). Length 52 or 53 feet.
2. KOGIA.
Kogia, Gray, l. c. pp. 196, 215, 386, 391; Flower, Trans. Zool. Soc. vol. vi. p. 114.
Head moderate, blunt and high in front; left blower only open. Skull short and broad; the septum that divides the crown of the skull very sinuous, folded so as to form a funnel-shaped cavity.
1. Kogia breviceps.
Kogia breviceps, Gray, l. c. pp. 217, 391; Synops. Whales & Dolph. p. 4.
Inhab. Cape of Good Hope.
Perhaps the next is the same species.
2. Kogia Macleayii.
B.M.
Kogia Macleayii, Gray, l. c. p. 391; Synops. Whales & Dolph. p. 4.
Physeter simus, Owen, Trans. Zool. Soc. vol. vi. p. 30, t. 10, 11, 12, 13, ♀ (not skeleton, t. 11. f. 2).
Inhab. Australia, India. Length 10 feet, young.
The difference between Kogia and Euphysetes does not depend on the sex of the animals. Mr. Krefft described a male, and Professor Owen a female specimen; the latter mistook the two drawings of the same specimen for the two sexes, deceived by certain additions surreptitiously made to Mr. Elliot’s drawings; but the additions, especially the penis, are not represented on the plates, and the artist (Mr. Willis) says he received no directions to leave out any part of the drawing, and accurately copied them. The measurements given in the paper do not agree with those in Mr. Elliot’s notes made from the living animal; and reference to them would have prevented all this confusion.
3. EUPHYSETES.
Euphysetes, Gray, l. c. pp. 196, 215, 386, 392; Synops. Whales & Dolph. p. 4.
Head moderate, blunt and high in front. Skull short and broad. The septum that divides the cavity of the crown of the skull simple, longitudinal, only slightly curved.
Vertebræ 51: cervical 7 (all united into one mass), dorsal 14, caudal 40. Basihyal broad and flat, as in Catodon.
1. Euphysetes Grayii.
Euphysetes Grayii, MacLeay; Gray, l. c. pp. 218, 392; Synops. Whales & Dolph. p. 4.
Physeter simus, Owen, Trans. Zool. Soc. vol. vi. t. 11. f. 2 (skeleton only).
Inhab. Australia.