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XV.—On the Occurrence of Functional Teeth in the Upper Jaw of the Sperm Whale

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  15 September 2014

James Ritchie
Affiliation:
Royal Scottish Museum
A. J. H. Edwards
Affiliation:
National Museum of Antiquities
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Extract

Writers on mammalian anatomy are united in stating that one of the characteristics of the Cetacean family Physeteridæ is the presence of functional teeth in the lower jaw only. Typical statements are those of Flower and Lydekker (1891): “No functional teeth in the upper jaw”; Beddard (1900): “Teeth found in both jaws, but those of lower jaw alone functional; often very reduced in number”; Turner (1912): “Functional teeth in lower, but not in upper jaw.” A possible exception is the Pigmy Whale, Kogia, in which the upper jaw may altogether lack teeth or may possess an anterior rudimentary pair (as in K. simus, Owen) the utility of which is a matter of some doubt.

Type
Proceedings
Copyright
Copyright © Royal Society of Edinburgh 1914

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References

page 166 note * Flower, and Lydekker, , An Introduction to the Study of Mammals, Living and Extinct, London, 1891, p. 247.Google Scholar

page 166 note † Beddard, , A Book of Whales, London, 1900, p. 182.Google Scholar

page 166 note ‡ Turner, , The Marine Mammals in the Anatomical Museum of the University of Edinburgh, London, 1912, p. 71.Google Scholar

page 166 note § Scottish Naturalist, 1912 (March), p. 65.

page 166 note ║ Turner, , “The Occurrence of the Sperm Whale or Cachalot in the Shetland Seas,” Ann. Scot. Nat. Hist., 1904, p. 6, pl. i.Google Scholar; and previously in Proc. Roy. Soc. Edinburgh, 1903.

page 167 note * Owen, , Odontography, London, 18401845, p. 354.Google Scholar

page 168 note * Pouchet, et Beauregard, , “Sur un Cachalot échoué a l'Ile de Ré,” Jour. de l'Anat. et Phys., voi. xxvii., 1891, p. 132, f.n.Google Scholar

page 168 note † Lillie, , “Observations on the Anatomy and General Biology of some Members of the Larger Cetacea,” Proc. Zool. Soc. London, 1910, part 2, p. 788, fig. 78.Google Scholar

page 168 note ‡ Pouchet, et Chaves, , “Des Formes extérieures du Cachalot,” Jour. de l'Anat. et Phys., vol. xxvi., 1890, p. 270.Google Scholar