Physeterula

Physeterula was a prehistoric close relative of the sperm whale that lived in Europe and the United States during the Late Miocene-Early Pliocene. It is similar in size to Idiorophus, Zygophyseter and Brygmophyseter.

Physeterula

RealGatba · CC0 · via Wikipedia/Commons. May be a photograph of a specimen, or an artist’s reconstruction — an interpretation of a skeleton, since colour and soft tissue are almost never preserved.

On record

Recorded, not inferred
Sits inside
PhyseteridaePBDB
Diet
piscivore, carnivorePBDB, for Physeteridae
Life habit
aquatic, depth=surfacePBDB, for Cetacea
Motility
actively mobilePBDB, for Cetacea
Environment
marine,freshwaterPBDB, for Odontoceti

Time the record covers

At least 13 million years on record.

The record covers at least 15.98 Mya to 2.58 Mya. No occurrence read is dated outside 27.3 Mya to 11.7 ka.

Oligocene — about 0 of 17 occurrencesOligoceneMiocene — about 12 of 17 occurrencesMiocenePliocene — about 3 of 17 occurrencesPliocenePleistocene — about 2 of 17 occurrencesPleistocene28–27 Mya — about 0.0 occurrences27–26 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences26–25 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences25–24 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences24–23 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences23–22 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences22–21 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences21–20 Mya — about 0.2 occurrences20–19 Mya — about 0.8 occurrences19–19 Mya — about 0.8 occurrences19–18 Mya — about 0.8 occurrences18–17 Mya — about 0.8 occurrences17–16 Mya — about 0.9 occurrences16–15 Mya — about 1 occurrence15–14 Mya — about 1 occurrence14–13 Mya — about 1.0 occurrences13–12 Mya — about 2 occurrences12–11 Mya — about 0.9 occurrences11–10 Mya — about 0.3 occurrences10–9.3 Mya — about 0.3 occurrences9.3–8.4 Mya — about 0.3 occurrences8.4–7.4 Mya — about 0.3 occurrences7.4–6.5 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences6.5–5.6 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences5.6–4.6 Mya — about 0.4 occurrences4.6–3.7 Mya — about 0.5 occurrences3.7–2.8 Mya — about 2 occurrences2.8–1.9 Mya — about 1 occurrence1.9–928 ka Mya — about 0.9 occurrences928 ka–0 Mya — about 0.4 occurrences15.98 Mya2.58 Mya27.8 Mya0 Mya

17 occurrences of Physeterula on record, most of them in the Miocene. Bar height is expected occurrences, not a count: each fossil is spread across the span it is dated to, so a tall narrow bar means tight dating and a low wide one means loose.

When

17 occurrences

These are dates about fossils, not the animal: the record can only begin after it arose and end before it died out, so either end may reach further. Shares are expected occurrences: a fossil dated to a span is counted partly in each period it straddles. More on what this infers.

Found in

10 formations

Calvert — 38.60°N, 76.51°WCalvert — 38.16°N, 76.83°WTamiami — 27.34°N, 82.51°WGroote Heide — 52.04°N, 6.67°E? Kalkofen — 47.85°N, 9.00°ERed Crag — 52.09°N, 1.31°EDiest — 51.22°N, 4.46°EYorktown — 35.36°N, 76.82°WWaccamaw — 33.10°N, 80.31°WBerchem — 51.22°N, 4.46°EPungo River — 35.39°N, 76.79°W

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The named rock units Physeterula has been recovered from, largest first. Drawn where the rock is now, not where it formed. 6 occurrences have no formation on record, which is common for older literature.

Physeterula and its relatives

Miocene

Where Physeterula and its relatives were recorded in the Miocene.

Found in the same rock

699 taxa

The Paleobiology Database records 15 sites for Physeterula, and this reads all of them. The number is how many of those sites it was catalogued from too. The 24 sharing the most are listed.

This is not a list of everything alive at the time. It is only what has come out of the same ground as this animal and been written down.

Entered from

15 references

Each of the 17 occurrences read was entered from one of these publications, ordered by how many each accounts for. This is not a search for papers mentioning the name. 3 further references are not listed. Entries link to doi.org where the Paleobiology Database holds an identifier, and to its own record where it does not. Relayed as the Paleobiology Database holds them, not checked against what they resolve to.

Media and terms

Media content2

Picture of Physeterula

Credit
RealGatba
Licence
CC0
Commercial use
the licence allows it

CT scan

Licence
not stated by the source
Commercial use
cannot be read from the licence given — check the record
Specimen
Physeterula sp. · usnm:paleobiology:768908

The description on this site

Licence
CC BY-SA 4.0

This is what the site found, which is not the same as what exists.

Keep going

What may have been alongside itPhyseteridae through timeFormations of the MioceneThe world it lived on

Occurrence data from the Paleobiology Database, CC BY 4.0. Van Beneden 1877