ert RANGE OF HYPEROODON Bi M 
were mistaken. by that observer for teeth. It is curious that the 
name 1s really appropriate in spite of this mistake, though of 
course it would be so to all the Ziphioids. In more than one 
feature this genus comes nearest of all the Ziphiinae to Physeter. 
Its enormous maxillary crests are paralleled in that Whale; but 
in Hyperoodon their great thickness contrasts with the thinness 
of those of the Cachalot. The correspondence in the attachment 
of a rib to its vertebra by both heads is noteworthy. It is 
remarkable that in this particular Hyperoodon is more like 
Physeter than the supposed nearest ally of the latter—-Aogia. 
Of this genus two species are known. The best known is the 
common northern //. rostratum (with many aliases); the second 
species from the southern hemisphere, H. planifrons, is only 
known from a single water- and pebble-worn skull. Its identifica- 
tion, however, depends upon the known accuracy of the late Sir 
Wilham Flower. 
The northern species (Hyperoodon rostratum) has often been 
recorded upon our own coasts; the first record of the stranding of 
this Whale was in the year 1717. In that year an example was 
found at Maldon, in Essex. Like the Beluga, Hyperoodon rostratum 
vets lighter in colour with advancing years. The young are 
black; the old animals pale brown with some white about them. 
The under surface, however, is always greyish white. The length 
of this Whale reaches to at any rate 30 feet. But John Hunter 
had a specimen which he believed to be 40 feet in length. 
The specimen, however, consisted only of a skull, so that error 
might have crept in. It has already been mentioned that the old 
males have enormous maxillary crests. According to M. Bouvier, 
who has lately made an exhaustive examination of the anatomy 
of this Whale,’ the females occasionally exhibit the same crests, 
which are thus presumably of the nature of spurs sometimes seen 
in old females among the Gallinaceous birds. The number of 
grooves upon the throat is in dispute in this Whale as in Ziphius. 
One pair is the usual allowance; but Kiikenthal found four in 
some embryos studied by him. Attention has already been called 
to the voice of Ziphioid Whales. Hyperoodon neither “lows” nor 
“bellows,” but “sobs”! Hyperoodon rostratum is a gregarious 
Whale, going about in herds, or “gams” as they should techni- 
cally be termed, of four to ten or even fifteen. This Whale 
1. Ann. Sci. Nat. (7), xiii. 1892, p. 259. 
