THE ZIPHIOID WHALES (ZIPHIIDÆ).
These singular Whales form a very compact group, closely united by common attributes, but they are readily separated by definite characters from others. Until the beginning of the present century, the Bottlehead (or Butzkopf) was that only known. Since then, at irregular intervals, chiefly solitary individuals have been caught or stranded in various parts of the world; but even now the numbers coming under observation have been few. Their apparent comparative rarity in the present day is in great contrast with the frequent discovery of their remains in the Norfolk Crag formations, where fragments, principally of their dense solid beaks, show that they must have been at a long distant period exceedingly numerous. On these grounds the supposition has been expressed that the present paucity of forms is indicative of a survival of an ancient family that once played an important part in Nature. The living forms range from fifteen to thirty feet in length, but their ocean habits are extremely obscure. Their common characters are long narrow beaks, elevated heads, a small but well-marked dorsal fin placed behind the middle of the back, short flippers with rounded extremity, a pair of short throat-furrows of a V-shape (point in front), a single somewhat crescentic blow-hole, placed crosswise in the middle of the head, absence or only rudiments of teeth in the upper jaws, and one or two pairs of very peculiar teeth, variable in size, in the lower jaws, along with certain other peculiarities of the skull. We shall refer but to a few of the group.
Of the genusZiphiuswe may admit CUVIER’SWHALE[234]and VANBENEDEN’SWHALE.[235]Their size appears to vary from sixteen to twenty-four feet, and their colour is said to be steel-grey, with irregular white body streaks, the abdomen also being whitish. The head is less prominent than in the Bottlehead, and the snout is a trifle shorter, with the lower jaw slightly upturned, fuller than the upper, and furnished with two teeth at the tip. The flippers are short and somewhat pointed, and the dorsal fin is situated well behind, and not very large. There is a deep hollow at the base of the rostrum or beak, over which the skull rises crest-like from behind forwards. The genusZiphiuswas originally based on a supposed fossil skull from near the mouth of the Rhone; living species, however, have been since recorded, and of one from South America Burmeister gives a detailed notice under the name ofEpiodon australis; still it is doubtful whether this is not one of the two above-mentioned animals.
Of the genusZiphiuswe may admit CUVIER’SWHALE[234]and VANBENEDEN’SWHALE.[235]Their size appears to vary from sixteen to twenty-four feet, and their colour is said to be steel-grey, with irregular white body streaks, the abdomen also being whitish. The head is less prominent than in the Bottlehead, and the snout is a trifle shorter, with the lower jaw slightly upturned, fuller than the upper, and furnished with two teeth at the tip. The flippers are short and somewhat pointed, and the dorsal fin is situated well behind, and not very large. There is a deep hollow at the base of the rostrum or beak, over which the skull rises crest-like from behind forwards. The genusZiphiuswas originally based on a supposed fossil skull from near the mouth of the Rhone; living species, however, have been since recorded, and of one from South America Burmeister gives a detailed notice under the name ofEpiodon australis; still it is doubtful whether this is not one of the two above-mentioned animals.
HEAD OF MESOPLODON. (After Andrews.)
HEAD OF MESOPLODON. (After Andrews.)
SOWERBY’SWHALE[236]is representative of the genusMesoplodon. This animal is black above, white below, and the sides marked with wriggly white streaks. The small dorsal fin is situated well back, the flippers are small and narrow, the head is rather low, sloping towards the beak, and the upper jaw is shorter than the under. It also has two teeth in the lower, and none in the upper jaw. Thus externally it bears strong resemblance to Cuvier’s Whale, but it differs in the slender beak, without a hollow at its base. Sowerby’s Whale is interesting from having been first obtained in 1800 off the Elgin Coast, and described by Mr. Sowerby as the Two-toothed Cachalot (Physeter bidens). The genusMesoplodonhas since given rise to considerable discussion, various names being assigned to it. Professor Flower points out that of the various Ziphioid Whales obtained on British coasts, France, the Cape, and New Zealand, described as different genera, &c., he recognises seven species ofMesoplodon, Sowerby’s Whale being the type, and the others differing chiefly in the form of the teeth. Another of this curious family is theNEWZEALANDBERARDIUS,[237]of which some four specimens only are known to science. Dr. Julius Haast records the capture of one near Canterbury, New Zealand, in 1868, which animal was 30½ feet long, velvety black, with greyish belly. One of the observers who saw the creature alive stated that it protruded its teeth—a remarkable fact iftrue. In its stomach were found half a bushel of the horny beaks of a species of Octopus. Professor Flower has described its skeleton, and affirms that it is truly ziphioid in character, but on the whole approaches nearer to the true Dolphins; whereas the Bottlehead is modified in the direction of the Sperm Whales.THEBOTTLEHEAD,ORCOMMONBEAKEDWHALE,[238]is a constant visitor to the coasts of Britain, many instances having been recorded of its capture, and one classical example came under the scalpel of the celebrated anatomist John Hunter. It inhabits the breadth of the North Atlantic, and according to Eschricht very probably spends the summer far north in the Polar Sea, and migrates southwards towards autumn or winter. Dr. R. Brown regards it as rare in the Greenland Seas, three or four, however, being occasionally seen at the mouth of Davis Strait. On the French and Scandinavian coasts small herds have sometimes run ashore. The female gives birth to a single young one in autumn. They feed chiefly on cuttle-fish, but also upon soft-bodied Trepangs (Holothuria). It ranges from twenty to forty feet in length, according to age and sex, and is of a uniform blackish hue, lighter beneath, but not white. The skull is most peculiar in having two crests at the occiput, of most unequal size and figure, and the cheek-bones at the root of the beak raised into a pair of huge elevations. The upper jaw is toothless, and the lower jaw has only two or three small concealed teeth. The neck vertebræ are united; and moreover the stomach is remarkable even among Cetacea for the number of chambers it contains, there being some six or seven divisions.