Physeter macrocephalus

The sperm whale or cachalot is the largest of the toothed whales and the largest toothed predator. It is the only living member of the genus Physeter and one of three extant species in the sperm whale superfamily Physeteroidea, along with the pygmy sperm whale and dwarf sperm whale of the genus Kogia.

Physeter macrocephalus

Gabriel Barathieu · CC BY-SA 2.0 · 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
sperm whalePBDB
Sits inside
PhyseterPBDB
Diet
carnivorePBDB, for Physeter
Life habit
aquatic, depth=surfacePBDB, for Physeter
Motility
actively mobilePBDB, for Physeter
Environment
oceanicPBDB, for Physeter

Time the record covers

At least 11 million years on record.

The record covers at least 11.63 Mya to 11.7 ka. No occurrence read is dated outside 13.82 Mya to 0 Mya.

Miocene — about 2 of 63 occurrencesMiocenePliocene — about 5 of 63 occurrencesPliocenePleistocene — about 4 of 63 occurrencesPleistocene14–13 Mya — about 0.3 occurrences13–13 Mya — about 0.3 occurrences13–12 Mya — about 0.3 occurrences12–12 Mya — about 0.3 occurrences12–11 Mya — about 0.2 occurrences11–11 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences11–11 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences11–10 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences10–9.5 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences9.5–9.1 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences9.1–8.6 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences8.6–8.1 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences8.1–7.6 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences7.6–7.2 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences7.2–6.7 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences6.7–6.2 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences6.2–5.7 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences5.7–5.3 Mya — about 0.2 occurrences5.3–4.8 Mya — about 0.8 occurrences4.8–4.3 Mya — about 0.8 occurrences4.3–3.8 Mya — about 0.8 occurrences3.8–3.3 Mya — about 1 occurrence3.3–2.9 Mya — about 1 occurrence2.9–2.4 Mya — about 0.8 occurrences2.4–1.9 Mya — about 0.3 occurrences1.9–1.4 Mya — about 0.3 occurrences1.4–955 ka Mya — about 0.3 occurrences955 ka–477 ka Mya — about 0.7 occurrences477 ka–0 Mya — about 54 occurrences11.63 Mya11.7 ka14.3 Mya0 Mya

63 occurrences of Physeter macrocephalus on record. 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

63 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

5 formations

Cromer Forest Bed — 52.91°N, 1.36°ESables des Landes — 43.94°N, 0.75°WEastover — 37.30°N, 77.19°WYorktown — 35.36°N, 76.82°WVarswater — 33.67°S, 18.43°E

Loading coastlines…

The named rock units Physeter macrocephalus has been recovered from, largest first. Drawn where the rock is now, not where it formed. 58 occurrences have no formation on record, which is common for older literature.

Found in the same rock

610 taxa

The Paleobiology Database records 61 sites for Physeter macrocephalus, 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

27 references

Each of the 63 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. 15 further references are not listed. Entries link to doi.org where the Paleobiology Database holds an identifier, and to its own record where it does not. Relayed as the Paleobiology Database holds them, not checked against what they resolve to.

Media and terms

Media content2

Picture of Physeter macrocephalus

Credit
Gabriel Barathieu
Licence
CC BY-SA 2.0
Commercial use
the licence allows it

3D model

Source
Sketchfab
Licence
CC Attribution
Commercial use
cannot be read from the licence given — check the record

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 itPhyseter through timeThe world it lived on

Occurrence data from the Paleobiology Database, CC BY 4.0. (Linnaeus 1758)