Introduction 



This catalog was originally designed as a checklist of the cetaceans of 

 South American waters only. It was clear from the start, however, that 

 comparable limitations could not be imposed on the range of the literature 

 to be consulted. It was also evident that a surprisingly small percentage 

 of living species of marine cetaceans are unknown from South American 

 and Antarctic seas. With nearly all the essential literature at hand, it was 

 decided to include the extraterritorial forms and make the catalog world- 

 wide in scope. 



Virtually all original published records of the occurrence of cetaceans 

 in the rivers, on the coasts, islands, and continental shelves of South 

 America have been consulted and are cited herein. Bibliographic refer- 

 ences to species or specimens recorded from other waters have been restricted 

 to original descriptions of named forms, critical taxonomic revisions, 

 marginal locality records, and some of the outstanding or interesting 

 research on the biology of whales. Except for a few important works, 

 commercial, statistical, and popular accounts of whales are not cited 

 in this catalog. Submitted in May 1962, revised and brought up to date in 

 December 1964, the paper has had final additions of new taxonomic and 

 distributional data entered in March 1965. 



My sincere appreciation is expressed to the late Mrs. Marion Grey 

 and Mrs. Eugenie Bernhoff Jang for translations of the Russian cetological 

 literature consulted by me and to Miss Pearl Sonoda for translations of 

 Japanese works. My heartfelt thanks to Dr. Jack Fooden, who, in com- 

 muting between the Chicago Natural History Museum and the University 

 of Chicago, never failed to bring me needed reference works from the 

 magnificent libraries of the latter institution. To Dr. Joseph Curtis Moore, 

 my gratitude for valuable suggestions. 



Preparation of the manuscript was aided by grants (G— 10753 and 

 GB-2059) from the National Science Foundation. 



Nomenclature. — The first attempt in the last 100 years to critically 

 examine and evaluate the nomenclatorial status and zoological applica- 

 bility of every scientific name proposed for living whales is made in this 

 catalog. The few original descriptions not seen but cited perforce are 

 noted accordingly. 



Problems in nomenclature have been decided on the basis of the Inter- 

 national Code of Zoological Nomenclature (1961) with the as yet un- 

 published interpretations and amendments adopted by the XVI Interna- 

 tional Congress held 1963 in Washington, D.C. 



Article 23(b) } or the so-called 50-year rule of the present Code, is am- 



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