368 WHALES AND " SEA-SERPENTS " CHAP. 



met with. Most of them are southern in range, and the 

 vast stretches of desolate coast which occur in these regions of 

 the world account possibly for the rarity of their remains. 

 These Whales have done duty more than once for the " Sea 

 Serpent." Quite recently an alleged sea serpent turned out to 

 be a couple of Mesoplodon lying head to tail ! The head in 

 these Whales is small compared to the body. The skull is 

 characterised by the strong maxillary crests, enormously deve- 

 loped in the male Hyperoodon. The vertex of the skull too is 

 raised, forming a pronounced prominence behind the aperture of 

 the nares (blow-hole) ; in many forms the rostrum is made of 

 very dense bone, and is thus relatively abundant in rock strata. 

 The pterygoids meet in the middle line as in the Cachalot. 

 In addition to the few functional teeth in the lower jaw there 

 are more numerous but small teeth in the upper jaw. These 

 are not always to be recognised, as they are not attached to the 

 bone, but merely imbedded in the gums, so that they come away 

 when the skull is prepared. 



The genus Berardius l differs from Mesoplodon by its rather 

 more symmetrical skull, of which the vertex is formed by the 

 nasals. The mesethmoid is only partly ossified. The teeth 

 are two on each side of the mandible, with their apices directed 

 forwards. The vertebral formula is C 7, D 10, L 12, Ca 19. 



B. arnouxi, from the seas of New Zealand, is the only species 

 of this genus which is well known. It is 30 or 32 feet in 

 length, and is of a velvety black colour, with a greyish belly. 

 Instead of lowing like a cow, this Whale has been described 

 as " bellowing like a bull " ! A singular and somewhat inex- 

 plicable fact has been stated of this species. The teeth were 

 said to be protrusible, and Sir James Hector stated that the 

 teeth were imbedded " in a tough cartilaginous sac which 

 adheres loosely in the socket of the jaw, and is moved by a 

 series of muscular bundles that elevate or depress it." Sir 

 William Flower justly observed that these statements " accord so 

 little with anything hitherto known in mammalian anatomy 

 that further observations on the subject are extremely desir- 

 able." Like other Ziphioids, Berardius feeds mainly, if n6t 

 entirely, upon cuttle-fish, a prey eminently suited to their almost/ 

 toothless mouths. It is not known whether Berardius has the 



1 See Flower, Trans. Zool. Soc. viii. 1872, p. 203. 



