Balænopteridæ, Gray, l. c. pp. 61, 106.
Balænopteroidea, Gray, Synops. Whales & Dolph. p 2.
Head moderate. Body elongate. Dorsal fin distinct, rarely wanting. Belly longitudinally plaited, rarely smooth. Baleen short, broad. Maxillary bones broad. Pectoral fin lanceolate; arms elongate; radius and ulna much longer than the humerus. Fingers 4, subequal. Vertebræ of the neck free, or partially united. Tympanic bones oblong or ovate.
Family 2. AGAPHELIDÆ. Scrag Whales.
Head moderate; body elongate; hinder part of the back keeled and notched. Cervical vertebræ free. Pectoral fin lanceolate. Fingers 4. Throat without plaits. No dorsal fin. Ribs single-headed.
Mr. Cope “mentioned that he had an opportunity of examining a portion of a specimen of the Scrag Whale of Dudley, Balæna gibbosa of Erxleben, and ascertained that it represented a genus not previously known. It was a Fin-back Whale; but without dorsal fin or throat-folds, resembling superficially the genus Balæna. The baleen short and curved. The genus was called Agaphelus.”
1. AGAPHELUS.
Cervical vertebræ free. Fingers 4. Throat without plaits. No dorsal fin. Ribs single-headed. Scapula with acromion (Cope, Proc. Soc. N. Sc. Phil. 1869, p. 16).
Agaphelus, Cope, Proc. Soc. N. Sc. Phil. 1868, pp. 159, 225; Gray, Ann. & Mag. N. H. 1870, vi. p. 200.