Ziphius is a genus which is also of world-wide range. Here again the number of species is at present merely a matter of opinion. The prevalent impression, however, is that but a single species exists, which will therefore have the name of Z. cavirostris. The genus (and for the matter of that the species too) may be thus characterised in comparison with its allies. The mesethmoid is ossified as in Mesoplodon, but the nasals joined together form the vertex of the skull. There are two teeth near the symphysis of the mandible, besides the usual small and "functionless" teeth in the upper jaw. The vertebral formula is C 7, D 9 or 10, L 11, Ca 21.
The throat of a Ziphius from New Zealand was described by Messrs. Scott and Parker[1] as having three grooves on each side. Whether this form is the same as von Haast's Z. novae zelandiae is a matter of doubt; but the individual to which his name has been applied was 26 feet long, and had but a single groove on each side. Even in the external characters of many Whales many points require clearing up. Our knowledge of Ziphius dates from the year 1804, when a skull "completely petrified in appearance" was picked up upon the Mediterranean coast of France, and described by the great Cuvier. It was forty years before another specimen was found. In the New Zealand specimen of von Haast already referred to, the body was scored by numerous lacerations. These wounds may have been due to fights among the Whales themselves; the forwardly-situated teeth would be capable of inflicting such wounds. But it has also been stated that the armed suckers of gigantic cuttle-fish are responsible for these scratches.
Hyperoodon is the most easily-distinguishable genus of Ziphioid Whales. Its characters are the following:—The skull has enormously-developed maxillary crests in the adult male; the mesethmoid is not fully ossified. There is but a single tooth to each ramus of the lower jaw, besides, of course, the usual small teeth in the upper jaw. The vertebral formula is C 7, D 9, L 9, Ca 18. The cervicals are fused into one mass, more or fewer being free in other Ziphioids. The sternum consists of three pieces only, the last of which is bifid posteriorly.
The name Hyperoodon was given to this Whale by Colonel Lacepède on account of the rough papillae upon the palate, which
- ↑ Trans. Zool. Soc. xii. 1889, p. 241.
