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Physeter macrocephalus  Linnaeus, 1758
Taxonomic Serial No.: 180488

(Download Help) Physeter macrocephalus TSN 180488

 Taxonomy and Nomenclature
       
  Kingdom: Animalia  
  Taxonomic Rank: Species  
  Synonym(s): Physeter catodon Linnaeus, 1758
  
    Physeter australasianus Desmoulins, 1822
  
    Physeter australis Gray, 1846
  
  Common Name(s): Sperm Whale [English]
  
    cachalot [English]
  
       
  Taxonomic Status:    
  Current Standing: valid  
       
  Data Quality Indicators:    
  Record Credibility Rating: verified - standards met  
       

 Taxonomic Hierarchy
       
 KingdomAnimalia  – Animal, animaux, animals  
    SubkingdomBilateria  – triploblasts  
       InfrakingdomDeuterostomia   
          PhylumChordata  – cordés, cordado, chordates  
             SubphylumVertebrata  – vertebrado, vertébrés, vertebrates  
                InfraphylumGnathostomata   
                   SuperclassTetrapoda   
                      ClassMammalia Linnaeus, 1758 – mammifères, mamífero, mammals  
                         SubclassTheria Parker and Haswell, 1897  
                            InfraclassEutheria Gill, 1872  
                               OrderCetacea Brisson, 1762 – baleines, cétacés, dauphins, mammfères marins, marsouins, baleia, cetáceo, golfinho, cetaceans, whales, dolphins, marine mammals, porpoises  
                                  SuborderOdontoceti Flower, 1867 – toothed whales  
                                     FamilyPhyseteridae Gray, 1821 – sperm whales  
                                        GenusPhyseter Linnaeus, 1758 – sperm whales  
                                           SpeciesPhyseter macrocephalus Linnaeus, 1758 – Sperm Whale, cachalot  
       

 References
       
  Expert(s):    
  Expert: Alfred L. Gardner  
  Notes: Curator of North American mammals and Chief of Mammal Section, National Biological Service, Smithsonian Institution, National Museum of Natural History, Washington, DC, USA   
  Reference for: Physeter macrocephalus    
       
  Expert: Dr. James G. Mead  
  Notes: Vertebrate Zoology, National Museum of Natural History, Washington, DC 20560   
  Reference for: Physeter macrocephalus    
       
  Other Source(s):    
  Source: CDP, database (version 1999)  
  Acquired: 2003   
  Notes:    
  Reference for: Sperm Whale[English]   
       
  Source: List of Marine Mammal Species and Subspecies, website (version Aug 2018)  
  Acquired: 2019   
  Notes: Committee on Taxonomy. 2018. List of marine mammal species and subspecies. Society for Marine Mammalogy, www.marinemammalscience.org, consulted on 16 April 2019   
  Reference for: Physeter macrocephalus, cachalot [English], Sperm Whale [English]   
       
  Source: List of Marine Mammal Species and Subspecies (2023), website (version Nov 2023)  
  Acquired: 2023   
  Notes: Committee on Taxonomy. 2023. List of marine mammal species and subspecies. Society for Marine Mammalogy, www.marinemammalscience.org, consulted on 13 Nov 2023   
  Reference for: Physeter macrocephalus, cachalot [English], Sperm Whale [English]   
       
  Source: NODC Taxonomic Code, database (version 8.0)  
  Acquired: 1996   
  Notes:    
  Reference for: Physeter macrocephalus   
       
  Publication(s):    
  Author(s)/Editor(s): Hershkovitz, Philip  
  Publication Date: 1966   
  Article/Chapter Title: Catalog of Living Whales   
  Journal/Book Name, Vol. No.: United States National Museum Bulletin, no. 246   
  Page(s): viii + 259   
  Publisher:    
  Publication Place:    
  ISBN/ISSN:    
  Notes: Available online at https://biodiversitylibrary.org/page/7869872   
  Reference for: Physeter macrocephalus   
       
  Author(s)/Editor(s): Holthuis, L. B.  
  Publication Date: 1987   
  Article/Chapter Title: Letters: The Scientific Name of the Sperm Whale   
  Journal/Book Name, Vol. No.: Marine Mammal Science, vol. 3, no. 1   
  Page(s): 87-88   
  Publisher:    
  Publication Place:    
  ISBN/ISSN: 0824-0469   
  Notes:    
  Reference for: Physeter macrocephalus, Sperm Whale [English]   
       
  Author(s)/Editor(s): Husson, A. M., and L. B. Holthuis  
  Publication Date: 1974   
  Article/Chapter Title: Physeter macrocephalus Linnaeus, 1758, the valid name for the sperm whale   
  Journal/Book Name, Vol. No.: Zoologische Mededelingen, vol. 48, no. 19   
  Page(s): 205-217 + 3   
  Publisher:    
  Publication Place:    
  ISBN/ISSN:    
  Notes:    
  Reference for: Physeter macrocephalus, Sperm Whale [English]   
       
  Author(s)/Editor(s): Linnaeus, Carolus  
  Publication Date: 1758   
  Article/Chapter Title:    
  Journal/Book Name, Vol. No.: Systema naturae per regna tria naturae, secundum classes, ordines, genera, species, cum characteribus, differentiis, synonymis, locis, 10th Edition, vol. 1   
  Page(s): 824   
  Publisher: Laurentii Salvii   
  Publication Place: Holmiae (Stockholm, Sweden)   
  ISBN/ISSN:    
  Notes: Available online at http://resolver.sub.uni-goettingen.de/purl?PPN362053006 and http://biodiversitylibrary.org/page/726886   
  Reference for: original description   
       
  Author(s)/Editor(s): Mead, James G., and Robert L. Brownell, Jr. / Wilson, Don E., and DeeAnn M. Reeder, eds.  
  Publication Date: 2005   
  Article/Chapter Title: Order Cetacea   
  Journal/Book Name, Vol. No.: Mammal Species of the World: A Taxonomic and Geographic Reference, 3rd ed., vol. 1   
  Page(s): 723-743   
  Publisher: Johns Hopkins University Press   
  Publication Place: Baltimore, Maryland, USA   
  ISBN/ISSN: 0-8018-8221-4   
  Notes:    
  Reference for: Physeter macrocephalus   
       
  Author(s)/Editor(s): Rice, Dale W.  
  Publication Date: 1998   
  Article/Chapter Title: Marine Mammals of the World: Systematics and Distribution   
  Journal/Book Name, Vol. No.: Special Publications of the Society for Marine Mammals, no. 4   
  Page(s): ix + 231   
  Publisher: The Society for Marine Mammalogy   
  Publication Place: Lawrence, Kansas, USA   
  ISBN/ISSN: 1-891276-03-4   
  Notes:    
  Reference for: Physeter macrocephalus, Sperm Whale [English]   
       
  Author(s)/Editor(s): Schevill, William E.  
  Publication Date: 1986   
  Article/Chapter Title: The International Code of Zoological Nomenclature and a paradigm: the name Physeter catodon Linnaeus 1758   
  Journal/Book Name, Vol. No.: Marine Mammal Science, vol. 2, no. 2   
  Page(s): 153-157   
  Publisher:    
  Publication Place:    
  ISBN/ISSN: 0824-0469   
  Notes:    
  Reference for: Physeter macrocephalus   
       
  Author(s)/Editor(s): Schevill, William E.  
  Publication Date: 1987   
  Article/Chapter Title: Letters: The Scientific Name of the Sperm Whale, Mr. Schevill replies   
  Journal/Book Name, Vol. No.: Marine Mammal Science, vol. 3, no. 1   
  Page(s): 89-90   
  Publisher:    
  Publication Place:    
  ISBN/ISSN: 0824-0469   
  Notes:    
  Reference for: Physeter macrocephalus   
       
  Author(s)/Editor(s): Selys-Longchamps, E. de  
  Publication Date: 1839   
  Article/Chapter Title: Europaeorum Mammalium, Index Methodicus   
  Journal/Book Name, Vol. No.: Études de Micromammalogie: revue des musaraignes, des rats et des campagnols, suivie d'un index méthodique des mammifères d'Europe   
  Page(s): 137-157   
  Publisher:    
  Publication Place: Paris, France   
  ISBN/ISSN:    
  Notes:    
  Reference for: Physeter macrocephalus   
       
  Author(s)/Editor(s): Wilson, Don E., and DeeAnn M. Reeder, eds.  
  Publication Date: 1993   
  Article/Chapter Title:    
  Journal/Book Name, Vol. No.: Mammal Species of the World: A Taxonomic and Geographic Reference, 2nd ed., 3rd printing   
  Page(s): xviii + 1207   
  Publisher: Smithsonian Institution Press   
  Publication Place: Washington, DC, USA   
  ISBN/ISSN: 1-56098-217-9   
  Notes: Corrections were made to text at 3rd printing   
  Reference for: Physeter macrocephalus   
       
  Author(s)/Editor(s): Wilson, Don E., and Sue Ruff, eds.  
  Publication Date: 1999   
  Article/Chapter Title:    
  Journal/Book Name, Vol. No.: The Smithsonian Book of North American Mammals   
  Page(s): xxv + 750   
  Publisher: Smithsonian Institution Press   
  Publication Place: Washington, DC, USA   
  ISBN/ISSN: 1-56098-845-2   
  Notes:    
  Reference for: Physeter macrocephalus   
       
  Author(s)/Editor(s): Würsig, Bernd, J. G. M. Thewissen, and Kit M. Kovacs, eds.  
  Publication Date: 2018   
  Article/Chapter Title:    
  Journal/Book Name, Vol. No.: Encyclopedia of Marine Mammals, 3rd edition   
  Page(s): xxxi + 1157   
  Publisher: Elsevier   
  Publication Place: Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA   
  ISBN/ISSN: 978-0-12-8043271   
  Notes: Species and classification provided on pages xxix-xxxi   
  Reference for: Physeter macrocephalus, Sperm Whale [English]   
       

 Geographic Information
       
  Geographic Division: Antarctica/Southern Ocean  
    East Pacific  
    Eastern Atlantic Ocean  
    Indo-West Pacific  
    Western Atlantic Ocean  
       
  Jurisdiction/Origin:    
 

 

    

 Comments
       
  Comment: Note that "line priority" (cited by some sources as justification for using Physeter catodon over P. macrocephalus) is not supported by the International Code of Zoological Nomenclature. If these names are both properly applicable to the sperm whale then the Principle of First Reviser applies, in which case P. macrocephalus is the valid name (de Selys-Longchamps (1839) used macrocephalus with catodon in synonymy)  
    In recent confusion on the use of Physeter macrocephalus or P. catodon (both available from Linnaeus (1758)) for the sperm whale, the arguments ultimately hinge on whether or not both are applicable to this species. Based on careful consideration of the cited works & ICZN, the typification acts (Husson & Holthuis 1974, and Art. 72.4.1.1) are valid, so the names are conspecific, the Principle of the First Reviser (Art. 24.2, and Holthuis 1987) applies, and P. macrocephalus is the correct name  
 

 

    

 
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