HUNTING THE BOTTLENOSE WHALE 



row of small teeth are present on either side, entirely 

 embedded in the gum of the upper jaw. These never 

 appear on the surface, even in the oldest animals, and 

 are similar to the teeth concealed in the upper jaw 

 of the sperm whale. In ancient times they were un- 

 doubtedly all well developed, but as the food of the 

 whales changed, and the teeth became of less and 

 less importance, they gradually began to disappear. 



The front portion of the skull of all the ziphioid 

 whales is produced in the form of a long cylinder of 

 <bone which, although open in the middle in young 

 specimens, gradually fills up by ossification of the cen- 

 tral cartilage and eventually becomes of almost flinty 

 hardness. 



Because of the extreme solidity of this portion of 

 the skull it fossilizes very perfectly. When digging 

 for the fortifications about the city of Antwerp hun- 

 dreds of these bones and teeth were found, and many 

 have been taken from the "Red Crag" deposits in 

 England. 



Ziphioid whales are evidently an ancient group 

 which was once very widely distributed. They are 

 found today in the greatest numbers in the seas about 

 New Zealand and Australia, but single specimens are 

 continually appearing unexpectedly in almost every 

 part of the world. 



Recently a specimen was washed ashore on the coast 

 of New Jersey and the skeleton sent to me for identi- 

 fication. I was surprised to find that it represented 

 a species, Mesoplodon densirostris, which before had 

 been recorded only near New Zealand. 



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