Mesoplodon layardii

The strap-toothed beaked whale, also known as Layard's beaked whale, is one of the largest members of the Mesoplodon genus, growing to 6.2 m (20 ft) in length and reaching up to 1,300 kg (2,900 lb). The common and scientific name was given in honor of Edgar Leopold Layard, the curator of the South African Museum, who prepared drawings of a skull and sent them to the British taxonomist John Edward Gray, who described the species in 1865. This species is known for its unique coloration pattern and long, curved teeth that arch over the upper jaw, ultimately restructuring gape. This species inhabits deep subantarctic waters of the southern hemisphere. Strap-toothed whales rely on echolocation clicks, surface at step angles, and tend to travel in small groups. Their diet consists mainly of aquatic squid and males and females hunt the same sized prey. Although not a target for whaling, threats like plastic ingestion, noise pollution, and climate change can be threatening to Mesoplodon layardii.

Mesoplodon layardii

Jörg Mazur · CC BY-SA 4.0 · via Wikipedia/Commons. May be a photograph of a specimen, or an artist’s reconstruction — an interpretation of a skeleton, since colour and soft tissue are almost never preserved.

On record

Recorded, not inferred
Also called
strap-toothed whalePBDB
Sits inside
MesoplodonPBDB
Diet
piscivore, carnivorePBDB, for Ziphiidae
Life habit
aquatic, depth=surfacePBDB, for Cetacea
Motility
actively mobilePBDB, for Cetacea
Environment
marine,freshwaterPBDB, for Odontoceti

Time the record covers

At least 1.7 million years on record.

The record covers at least 1.8 Mya to 11.7 ka. No occurrence read is dated outside 11.63 Mya to 0 Mya.

Miocene — about 2 of 15 occurrencesMiocenePliocene — about 1 of 15 occurrencesPliocenePleistocene — about 10 of 15 occurrencesPleistoceneHolocene — about 3 of 15 occurrences12–11 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences11–11 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences11–11 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences11–10 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences10–9.7 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences9.7–9.3 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences9.3–8.9 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences8.9–8.5 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences8.5–8.1 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences8.1–7.7 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences7.7–7.3 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences7.3–6.9 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences6.9–6.5 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences6.5–6.1 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences6.1–5.7 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences5.7–5.3 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences5.3–4.9 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences4.9–4.4 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences4.4–4.0 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences4.0–3.6 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences3.6–3.2 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences3.2–2.8 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences2.8–2.4 Mya — about 0.3 occurrences2.4–2.0 Mya — about 0.6 occurrences2.0–1.6 Mya — about 1 occurrence1.6–1.2 Mya — about 2 occurrences1.2–809 ka Mya — about 2 occurrences809 ka–404 ka Mya — about 1 occurrence404 ka–0 Mya — about 4 occurrences1.8 Mya11.7 ka12.1 Mya0 Mya

15 occurrences of Mesoplodon layardii on record, most of them in the Pleistocene. The Paleobiology Database records this as a living group. Bar height is expected occurrences, not a count: each fossil is spread across the span it is dated to, so a tall narrow bar means tight dating and a low wide one means loose.

When

15 occurrences

These are dates about fossils, not the animal: the record can only begin after it arose and end before it died out, so either end may reach further. Shares are expected occurrences: a fossil dated to a span is counted partly in each period it straddles. More on what this infers.

Found in

1 formation

Red Crag — 51.96°N, 1.35°E

Loading coastlines…

The named rock units Mesoplodon layardii has been recovered from, largest first. Drawn where the rock is now, not where it formed. 14 occurrences have no formation on record, which is common for older literature.

Mesoplodon layardii and its relatives

Pleistocene

Where Mesoplodon layardii and its relatives were recorded in the Pleistocene.

Found in the same rock

46 taxa

The Paleobiology Database records 15 sites for Mesoplodon layardii, and this reads all of them. The number is how many of those sites it was catalogued from too. The 24 sharing the most are listed.

This is not a list of everything alive at the time. It is only what has come out of the same ground as this animal and been written down.

Entered from

4 references

Each of the 15 occurrences read was entered from one of these publications, ordered by how many each accounts for. This is not a search for papers mentioning the name. Each entry links to doi.org. Relayed as the Paleobiology Database holds them, not checked against what they resolve to.

Media and terms

Media content1

Picture of Mesoplodon layardii

Credit
Jörg Mazur
Licence
CC BY-SA 4.0
Commercial use
the licence allows it

No 3D scan of Mesoplodon layardii was found in MorphoSource and Sketchfab.

Smithsonian Open Access was not reached for this taxon, so this list is what the others held rather than everything there is.

The description on this site

Licence
CC BY-SA 4.0

This is what the site found, which is not the same as what exists.

Keep going

What may have been alongside itMesoplodon through timeFormations of the PleistoceneThe world it lived on

Occurrence data from the Paleobiology Database, CC BY 4.0. (Gray 1865)