Brygmophyseter

Name: Brygmophyseter ‭(‬Biting sperm whale‭)‬.
Phonetic: Brig-moe-fie-zet-er.
Named By: Kimura et al‭ ‬-‭ ‬2006.
Synonyms: Scaldicetus shigensis,‭ ‬Naganocetus shigensis.
Classification: Chordata,‭ ‬Mammalia,‭ ‬Cetacea,‭ ‬Physeteroidea.
Species: B.‭ ‬shigensis‭ (‬type‭)‬.
Diet: Carnivore.
Size: Approximately‭ ‬7‭ ‬meters long.
Known locations: Japan,‭ ‬Nagano Prefecture‭ ‬-‭ ‬Bessho Formation.
Time period: Miocene.
Fossil representation: Single almost complete specimen.

       Like many other prehistoric whales of its type Brygmophyseter had teeth in both the upper and lower jaws.‭ ‬As a mid-sized whale,‭ ‬Brygmophyseter would have probably been a generalist hunter tackling a variety of different prey types including fish,‭ ‬squid,‭ ‬and probably other whales.‭ ‬Not much is known about the hunting behaviour,‭ ‬but if Brygmophyseter possessed a developed spermaceti organ like existing sperm whales do,‭ ‬then it may have been able to use echolocation to find prey.‭ ‬It has also been suggested to swim in pods like other whales do,‭ ‬but this is purely conjecture based upon existing whale behaviour that has been documented and observed.‭
       Although a predator itself,‭ ‬Brygmophyseter has been depicted as a prey item for the gigantic shark C.‭ ‬megalodon.‭ ‬This is a plausible scenario as not only did the two predators swim the oceans at the same time,‭ ‬C.‭ ‬megalodon had a cosmopolitan distribution as evidenced by C.‭ ‬megalodon fossils found all over the world.‭ ‬On top of this large C.‭ ‬megalodon appear to have been specialists at hunting and killing whales like Brygmophyseter.

More information on these whales can be found on their respective pages; 1 - Pakicetus,
2 - Ambulocetus, 3 - Rodhocetus, 4 - Dorudon, 5, Brygmophyseter, 6 - Diorocetus.

Further reading
- Fossil sperm whales (Cetacea, Physeteridae) from Gunma and Ibaraki prefectures, Japan; with observations on the Miocene fossil sperm whale Scaldicetus shigensis Hirota and Barnes, 1995. - Bulletin of the Gunma Museum of Natural History 10:1-23 - T. Kimura, Y. Hasegawa & L. G. Barnes - 2006.




----------------------------------------------------------------------------

Random favourites