Acrophyseter
Name:
Acrophyseter
(Acute sperm whale).
Phonetic: Ack-roe-fie-set-er.
Named By: Lambert, Bianucci & Muizon
- 2008.
Classification: Chordata, Mammalia, Cetacea,
Physeteroidea.
Species: A. deinodon (type),
A. robustus.
Diet: Carnivore.
Size: Estimated at 4 meters long.
Known locations: Peru.
Time period: Messinian of the Miocene.
Fossil representation: Partial skull and mandible
(lower jaw).
When
you translate the full name of Acrophyseter deinodon
into English you
end up with 'acute sperm whale terrible teeth'. The genus part
of 'acute sperm whale' is a reference to the upturned bend in the
jaws, suggesting that Acrophyseter may have
approached prey from
below. The species name deinodon, or
'terrible teeth' is a
reflection of the large and strong conical teeth that were in both
jaws. The front teeth are angled to point forwards, probably an
adaptation to facilitate prey capture. From here prey was probably
passed to the tightly packed back teeth of the lower jaw that were
better suited to shearing through flesh.
Acrophyseter
was probably a generalist hunter, whose prey included other marine
mammals including other smaller whales, fish, and maybe even birds
like penguins. Smaller prey could have been killed almost instantly,
but larger prey like whales may have had to have been worn down,
perhaps by concentrating attacks on areas like the tail fluke to
immobilise the prey. The jaws and teeth of Acrophyseter
seem to have
been well suited for this purpose as the front teeth would have easily
been able to grip a tail fluke in motion with the rear teeth easily
being able to cut through it. It is unknown if Acrophyseter
hunted in
pods like Orca (also known as killer whales) do today. However
study of small cetaceans does indicate a strong possibility that
Acrophyseter may have hunted in family pods to
coordinate efforts upon
prey.
Acrophyseter
has been placed in the Physeteroidea which includes other predatory
whales
such as Brygmophyseter,
Zygophyseter,
Aulophyseter
and the
huge Livyatan.
Further reading
- A new stem-sperm whale (Cetacea, Odontoceti, Physeteroidea) from the
Latest Miocene of Peru. Comptes Rendus Palevol 7(6):361-369 - O.
Lambert, G. Bianucci & C. Muizon - 2008.
-
Bony Outgrowths on the Jaws of an Extinct Sperm Whale Support
Macroraptorial Feeding in Several Stem Physeteroids. -
Naturwissenschaften. 101 (6): 517–521 - Olivier Lambert, Giovanni
Bianucci & Brian Beatty - 2014.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Random favourites
 |
|
 |
 |