152 



DR. SIDNEY F. HARMER ON CETACEA 



males and the females; the males reaching a length of at least 

 60 feet, and the females probably not much more than half that 

 length. Its most obvious character is the possession of a long 

 series of extremely large teeth, about 20-25 in number, as much 

 as 8| in. in length and 3| or even 3| in. in basal diameter, on 

 each side of a narrow lower jaw ; the upper jaw being edentulous 

 or with vestigial teeth of irregular form. The maxillary teeth of 

 the Sperm Whale are figured" by Owen (1840-1845, pi. 89. figs. 3, 

 4), and by Sir William Turner (1912, pi. ix.), according to whom 

 they may be as many as 15 in number, and may reach a length of 

 80 mm. (p. 74). Owen (p. 354) gave the number as 8 on each 

 side. Other striking features of the species are the enormous 

 truncated head extending some distance in front of the tip of the 

 lower jaw, and the position of the blow-hole on the left side, at 

 the anterior end of the head. 



Many records of the occurrence of the Sperm Whale in the 

 British seas have previously been published, a large proportion of 

 them having been on the Scotch coast (cf. Turner, 1871, 1872, 

 1904). Part of the skull of a large Sperm Whale, stranded in 

 1582 at Caister, on the Norfolk coast, may be seen in the Church 

 of St. Nicholas at Great Yarmouth. Mr. A. B. Van Deinse has 

 just published a paper (1918) on 37 specimens recorded on the 

 Dutch coast during the period 1531 to 1788. It is a remarkable 

 fact that, with very rare exceptions, the Sperm Whales recorded 

 in European waters are of large size and are therefore presumably 

 males. It is believed by the Whalers that these are roving 

 individuals which have been driven away from the herds by the 

 competition of other males (cf. Thompson, 1912, p. 397); the 

 species being polygamous. Although two of the records here 

 given conform to the general rule, the third, from Galway, is of 

 special interest ; having been a young individual, with uncut 

 teeth, of only 18 feet in length. The condition of the dentition 

 shows that this individual was a "sucker"; and that an adult 

 female must have been somewhere in the neighbourhood, although 

 its presence was not recorded. 



The Sperm Whale feeds largely on Cuttlefish, but partly at any 

 rate on fish. 



Subfam. Ziphiin^i. 



The Ziphioid Whales are distinguished from the Physeterinse 

 by a further reduction of the dentition ; the functional teeth 

 being commonly a single pair, or more rarely two pairs, in the 

 lower jaw. Other vestigial teeth have, however, been recorded 

 in both jaws in all the three genera known in British seas. The 

 functional teeth generally remain beneath the gum in young 

 individuals and in the females even when adult ; but they pierce 

 the gum in males sooner or later, sometimes only when fully 

 adult. In Hyperoodon and Ziphius there are, moreover, strongly 

 marked differences in cranial characters between the adults of the 

 two sexes. 



