6 STUDIKS OF TASMANIAN CETACEA, 



Upon a comparison being made of the two skulls 

 (Specimens No. 2 and 3) with this articulated specimen, 

 and an examination of the leading generic characters of 

 both, it was resolved to make a rough comparison between 

 this skeleton and the dimensions given in the original de- 

 scription (".' of the Psenclorca crassidens of Reinhardt. 'i'he 

 results showed such a striking similarity between the two 

 specimens that a series of comjiarative measui'ements were 

 made, as shown in the following tables. These proved con- 

 clusively that the articulated skeleton was a good example 

 of Pxeudorco crass/dens. As we know it came from Adven- 

 ture Bay it is almost certain to be uortion of the Crowther 

 collection and to be one of the mixed school which came 

 ashore there. It is known that the school consisted of 

 representatives of the following species: — Globicejdialui^ 

 iiieJas, Orca (jladiaior, and P><evdorca crassidenf^. At the 

 time when these s]oecimens were being prepared in Tas- 

 mania (the latter '60s) communication with the centres of 

 scientific research was a matter of months and not^ of weeks 

 as at the present day. We can well imagine that there 

 was some confusion as regards the exact nomenclature of 

 the species, not only on account of the difficulties of corre- 

 spondence, but also on account of several specimens of 

 different species being obtained from the same locality at 

 the same time. Further, we must remember, that at the 

 time when these specimens were collected the authorities 

 in England appeared to be accentuated by a keen desire 

 to create species. Many of these were based upon slender 

 evidence, and were due to sex and age characteristics and 

 not to specific distinctions. The Tasmanian form, for in- 

 stance, was at first raised to specific rank as 0. meridionnlis 

 but has since been merged into Pseudorm erm^idev^^. Fur- 

 thermore, the vernacular designations of the whaling fra- 

 ternity were undoubtedly the cause of further confusion, 

 as several genera and species of whales were loosely groiiped 

 under the term "Blackfish" (8). This all assisted to con- 

 fuse the issue which in some respects, especially in regard 

 to onr local specimens of these species, needed clearing up 

 even at the present time. With the examination of the 

 specimens under review and the tabulated results given m 

 this pa,per before them the students of Tasmanian Cetacea 

 will, we hope, find the exact classification of certain of our 

 locai species an easier task in the future, than it has been 

 in the past. The articuated specimen of P. cramden^ m 

 the Tasmanian Mviseum appears to be a very typical repre- 

 sentative of its species for use as a comparativ e model, as 



(7) Trans. Recent memoirs of Cetacea. Eay Society 1864. 



(8) Among others the pigmy sperm whale. 



