Physeter

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Genus of mammals

title: "Physeter" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["sperm-whales", "cetacean-genera", "mammal-genera-with-one-living-species", "animal-taxa-named-by-carl-linnaeus"] description: "Genus of mammals" topic_path: "general/sperm-whales" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Physeter" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0

::summary Genus of mammals ::

| fossil_range = | image = Physeter macrocephalus - skeleton.jpg | image_caption = Skeleton of a sperm whale, the only extant member of the genus | taxon = Physeter | authority = Linnaeus, 1758 | type_species = Physeter macrocephalus | type_species_authority = Linnaeus, 1758 | subdivision_ranks = Species | subdivision = *Physeter macrocephalus

Physeter is a genus of toothed whales. There is only one living species in this genus: the sperm whale (Physeter macrocephalus). Some extremely poorly known fossil species have also been assigned to the same genus including Physeter antiquus (5.3–2.6 mya) from the Pliocene of France, and Physeter vetus (2.6 mya – 12 ka) from the Quaternary of the U.S. state of Georgia. Physeter vetus is very likely an invalid species, as the few teeth that were used to identify this species appear to be identical to those of another toothed whale, Orycterocetus quadratidens.

Sperm whales spend more than 72% of their time engaged in foraging dive cycles. Foraging behavior, including buzz vocalizations for prey capture. The efficiency of sperm whale foraging is attributed to their effective long range echolocation, and efficient locomotion during deep dives. Watwood, S. L., Patrick J. O. Miller, Johnson, M., Madsen, P. T., & Tyack, P. L. (2006). Deep-Diving Foraging Behaviour of Sperm Whales (Physeter macrocephalus). Journal of Animal Ecology, 75(3), 814–825. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-2656.2006.01101.x

The genus name is from Ancient Greek φυσητήρ (phūsētḗr), meaning 'blowpipe', 'blowhole'.

References

References

  1. "Physeter macrocephalus Linnaeus 1758 (sperm whale)".
  2. "Physeter Linnaeus 1758 (sperm whale)".
  3. "Physeter antiquus Gervais 1849".
  4. "Physeter vetus Leidy 1869".
  5. (1923). "The Pleistocene of North America and Its Vertebrated Animals from the States East of the Mississippi River and from the Canadian Provinces East of Longitude 95". Carnegie Institution of Washington.
  6. Alexander Senning, ''The Etymology of Chemical Names'' (Walter de Gruyter, 2019, ISBN 3110612712), p. 280.

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