Brygmophyseter
Name:
Brygmophyseter
(Biting sperm whale).
Phonetic: Brig-moe-fie-zet-er.
Named By: Kimura et al - 2006.
Synonyms: Scaldicetus shigensis,
Naganocetus shigensis.
Classification: Chordata, Mammalia, Cetacea,
Physeteroidea.
Species: B. shigensis
(type).
Diet: Carnivore.
Size: Approximately 7 meters long.
Known locations: Japan, Nagano Prefecture -
Bessho Formation.
Time period: Miocene.
Fossil representation: Single almost complete
specimen.
Like
many other prehistoric whales
of its type Brygmophyseter
had teeth in
both the upper and lower jaws. As a mid-sized whale, Brygmophyseter
would have probably been a generalist hunter tackling a variety of
different prey types including fish, squid, and probably other
whales. Not much is known about the hunting behaviour, but if
Brygmophyseter possessed a developed spermaceti
organ like existing
sperm whales do, then it may have been able to use echolocation to
find prey. It has also been suggested to swim in pods like other
whales do, but this is purely conjecture based upon existing whale
behaviour that has been documented and observed.
Although
a predator itself, Brygmophyseter has been
depicted as a prey item
for the gigantic shark C.
megalodon. This is a plausible scenario
as not only did the two predators swim the oceans at the same time,
C. megalodon had a cosmopolitan distribution as
evidenced by C.
megalodon fossils found all over the world. On top of this
large C.
megalodon appear to have been specialists at hunting and
killing
whales like Brygmophyseter.
 |
| More information on these whales can
be found on their respective pages; 1 - Pakicetus, 2 - Ambulocetus, 3 - Rodhocetus, 4 - Dorudon, 5, Brygmophyseter, 6 - Diorocetus. |
Further reading
- Fossil sperm whales (Cetacea, Physeteridae) from Gunma and Ibaraki
prefectures, Japan; with observations on the Miocene fossil sperm whale
Scaldicetus shigensis Hirota and Barnes, 1995. - Bulletin of the Gunma
Museum of Natural History 10:1-23 - T. Kimura, Y. Hasegawa & L.
G. Barnes - 2006.
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