BEAKED WHALES, FAMILY ZIPHIID^ TRUE. 



65 



ORIGINAL DESCRIPTION OF BERARDIUS BAIRDII. 



The original description of B. bairdii by Doctor Stejneger is as follows: 



Besides an Orca. which is said to visit the rookeries, but of which I have not been able to procure 

 any specimen, or even to see one, there are at least two species of the family Ziphiida:, both undescribed, 

 as I suppose. I am very much indebted to Mr. Grebnitzki for a skull of each of the species, for one of 

 which I should like to propose the name Berardius bairdii, as a slight token of my esteem and gratitude. 



As I am now almost without any literary means, I find it impossible to decide with certainty 

 in what genus this species will finally have to be placed. But I think that the supposition that this 

 specimen (No. 1520) is a young Berardius may not be far out of the way. At first I suspected that it 

 is a Dioplodon, but the size of the skull, in connection with the distinctness of the sutures, the evident 

 maxillary crests, and the terminal position of the teeth very soon led me to the above conclusion. 



The specimen in question has verj' low and scarcely incur\-ed maxillary crests; the shortest distance 

 of which is two and two-thirds times greater than their greatest height, and although it still is in ita 

 "adolescent" stage, I should greatly doubt whether the crests in this species ever become developed 

 to such a degree as, for instance, in IJyperoodon diodon (Laci^p.). The groove between the maxillary 

 and the nuchal crest is very shallow. The maxillary notch is deep. The beak is long, making only 

 a little less than half the length of the entire skull. Nares straight; right nasal larger than the left one, 

 but not very much. The occipital condyles do not come in contact beneath the foramen magnum; 

 the symphysis of the lower jaw is very short, amounting to only one-fifth of the whole length of the jaw. 



Want of time and books prevents me from making more extended remarks, and until I can present 

 an exhaustive and comparative description, I shall have to content myself by giving a provisional table 

 of dimensions. The following dimensions are in millimeters and English inches, and are in every case 

 measured in a straight line: 



Milli- 

 meters. 



Leng:th of skull , 



Greatest breadth 



Greatest height 



Length from process of supramaxillaries before orbit to posterior edge of condyles. 



Length from same process to tip of beak 



Depth of maxillary notch 



Length of premaxillaries ^ 



Prema>dllaries reach beyond supramaxillaries 



Distance of upper edge of maxillary crests at their anterior end 



Distance of same at their middle 



Greatest height of maxillary crests 



Length of visible part of vomer 



Distance from anterior tip of vomer to tip of beak 



Length of pterygoids 



Height of foramen magnum 



Width of foramen magnum 



Distance of condyles at upper edge of foramen magnum 



Closest approximation of condyles beneath the foramen magnum 



Entire length of lower jaw 



Height of lower jaw at second tooth groove 



Length of symphysis 



Greatest diameter of foremost tooth groove (longitudinal) 



Shortest diameter of foremost tooth groove (transverse) 



Greatest diameter of posterior tooth groove (longitudinal) 



Shortest diameter of posterior tooth groove (transverse) 



I)Istance between the tooth grooves 



1,405 



698 



530 



610 



890 



50 



1,222 



134 



228 



358 



86 



325 



275 



295 



70 



80 



100 



2 



1,292 



100 



257 



100 



45 



40 



35 



65 



55.32 

 27.48 

 20.87 

 24.02 

 35.04 

 1.97 

 48.11 

 5. 2S 

 S.98 

 14. 10 

 3.39 

 12.80 

 10.83 

 11.62 

 2.76 

 3.15 

 3.94 

 0.08 

 50.88 

 3.94 

 10.12 

 3.94 

 1.77 

 1.58 

 1.38 

 2.56 



