Supplement to the catalogue of seals and whales in the British Museum

by John Edward Gray

Suborder VI. ZIPHIOIDEA.

Ziphiidæ, Gray, Cat. S. & W. p. 326.

Ziphioidea, Gray, Synops. Whales & Dolph. p. 9.

Head beaked. Nostrils two, united into a single transverse or crescent-like blower on the centre of the back of the crown. Teeth only in the front or sides of the lower jaw, fitting into pits in the upper one. Dorsal fin falcate. Pectoral fin ovate, small, low down on the side of the body: fingers short, 4- or 5-jointed; second and third the longest; fourth rather shorter; first and fifth rather short. Cervical vertebræ more or less united into one mass.