Document of bibliographic reference 294639

BibliographicReference record

Type

Bibliographic resource

Type of document

Journal article

BibLvlCode

AS

Title

A small sperm whale (Cetacea: Odontoceti, Physeteridae) from the Miocene of Antwerp

Abstract

In the summer of 1967 during the construction of the circular highway in the city of Antwerp (Belgium) the fossil remains of a small physeterid whale were discovered. In the 1990’s the remains were sold by the collector and they disappeared from sight. In 2001 the fossils turned up again and were bought by the Museum of Natural History (Natuurhistorisch Museum de Peel) in Asten, the Netherlands, where they are now exhibited. This article presents (1) a re-examination of the site of discovery and its documentation by the collector, and (2) an investigation of the fossils that reappeared in 2001. Compared to the findings in situ, the fossils originating from glauconitic sands of late Early to Middle Miocene Age (Antwerpen Sands) are missing a number of teeth. The remaining pieces of the whale are described and illustrated in this study. On the basis of the teeth, some parts of the skull, the main parts of the atlas and the typically fused cervical vertebrae 2-7, as well as a photograph of the periotic it is concluded that the sperm whale belongs to the family Physeteridae, subfamily Physeterinae. Assigning to generic or specific rank turned out to be more difficult. Yet an attempt is made to interpret the sperm whale find in a provisional way by comparing its skull parts and teeth with physeterine genera and species described hitherto. Physeterula dubusii and Orycterocetus sp. seem to show closest affinities. Postcranial structure of fossil sperm whales is not very well known. The numerous fragments of the specimen described here could give a more complete insight in the overall skeletal structure of these Miocene odontocetes.

Bibliographic citation

Peters, N.; Monteiro, H. (2005). A small sperm whale (Cetacea: Odontoceti, Physeteridae) from the Miocene of Antwerp. Deinsea-Rotterdam 11(1): 87-102

Topic

Marine

Is peer reviewed

true

Access rights

open access

Is accessible for free

true