Ziphiidae

Beaked whales are members of the cetacean family Ziphiidae, noted as being one of the least-known groups of mammals because of their deep-sea habitat, reclusive behavior and apparent low abundance. Only three or four of the 24 existing species are reasonably well-known. Baird's beaked whales and Cuvier's beaked whales were subject to commercial exploitation, off the coast of Japan, while the northern bottlenose whale was extensively hunted in the northern part of the North Atlantic in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.

Ziphiidae

PresN · CC BY-SA 3.0 · 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
Also called
beaked whalePBDB
Sits inside
StegocetiPBDB
Diet
piscivore, carnivorePBDB
Life habit
aquatic, depth=surfacePBDB, for Cetacea
Motility
actively mobilePBDB, for Cetacea
Environment
marine,freshwaterPBDB, for Odontoceti

Time the record covers

At least 15 million years on record.

The record covers at least 15.98 Mya to 11.7 ka. No occurrence read is dated outside 23.04 Mya to 0 Mya.

Oligocene — about 0 of 380 occurrencesMiocene — about 149 of 380 occurrencesMiocenePliocene — about 88 of 380 occurrencesPliocenePleistocene — about 40 of 380 occurrencesPleistocene24–23 Mya — about 0.4 occurrences23–22 Mya — about 1 occurrence22–21 Mya — about 1 occurrence21–20 Mya — about 1 occurrence20–20 Mya — about 2 occurrences20–19 Mya — about 2 occurrences19–18 Mya — about 2 occurrences18–17 Mya — about 2 occurrences17–16 Mya — about 2 occurrences16–16 Mya — about 3 occurrences16–15 Mya — about 6 occurrences15–14 Mya — about 6 occurrences14–13 Mya — about 7 occurrences13–13 Mya — about 7 occurrences13–12 Mya — about 8 occurrences12–11 Mya — about 11 occurrences11–10 Mya — about 12 occurrences10–9.4 Mya — about 12 occurrences9.4–8.6 Mya — about 12 occurrences8.6–7.8 Mya — about 12 occurrences7.8–7.1 Mya — about 12 occurrences7.1–6.3 Mya — about 12 occurrences6.3–5.5 Mya — about 12 occurrences5.5–4.7 Mya — about 25 occurrences4.7–3.9 Mya — about 27 occurrences3.9–3.1 Mya — about 24 occurrences3.1–2.4 Mya — about 20 occurrences2.4–1.6 Mya — about 15 occurrences1.6–785 ka Mya — about 10 occurrences785 ka–0 Mya — about 113 occurrences15.98 Mya11.7 ka23.5 Mya0 Mya

380 occurrences of Ziphiidae on record, most of them in the Miocene. The Paleobiology Database records this as a living group. 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

380 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

51 formations

Red Crag — 51.96°N, 1.35°ERed Crag — 51.87°N, 1.29°ERed Crag — 51.97°N, 1.25°ERed Crag — 52.06°N, 1.23°ERed Crag — 52.09°N, 1.31°EPisco — 15.58°S, 74.72°WPisco — 14.56°S, 75.67°WPisco — 14.52°S, 75.71°WPisco — 14.34°S, 75.91°WDiest — 51.19°N, 4.46°EDiest — 51.22°N, 4.42°EYorktown — 35.36°N, 76.82°WGoose Creek — 32.45°N, 80.52°WGoose Creek — 32.85°N, 79.99°WGoose Creek — 32.54°N, 80.66°WPeace River — 27.90°N, 81.80°WPeace River — 27.81°N, 81.91°WMonterey — 33.60°N, 117.80°WMonterey — 33.56°N, 117.71°WPietra Leccese — 40.33°N, 18.19°EPietra Leccese — 40.35°N, 18.17°EBreda — 51.97°N, 6.72°EBreda — 52.15°N, 6.61°EBreda — 51.37°N, 3.91°EKattendijk — 51.17°N, 4.85°EKattendijk — 51.21°N, 4.43°EPungo River — 35.40°N, 76.80°WCalvert — 38.16°N, 76.83°WCalvert — 38.44°N, 76.44°WCalvert — 37.93°N, 77.51°WNa-arai — 34.90°N, 139.87°ENa-arai — 35.81°N, 140.81°EBlack Rock Sandstone — 37.99°S, 145.04°EBlack Rock Sandstone — 37.98°S, 145.05°ECameron Inlet — 39.98°S, 148.08°EBahía Inglesa — 27.08°S, 70.84°WBahía Inglesa — 27.16°S, 70.89°WTsurushi — 37.84°N, 138.26°EBerchem — 51.15°N, 4.63°ESables d'Anvers — 51.14°N, 4.35°ESt Marys — 38.40°N, 76.41°WSt Marys — 38.32°N, 76.42°WBessho — 36.18°N, 137.89°EBessho — 36.32°N, 137.97°EPuerto Madryn — 42.65°S, 64.98°WPuerto Madryn — 42.67°S, 64.98°WGreensand — 35.95°N, 14.42°EGreensand — 35.97°N, 14.34°EGram — 55.31°N, 9.06°E

Loading coastlines…

The named rock units Ziphiidae has been recovered from, largest first. Drawn where the rock is now, not where it formed. 27 further formations hold fewer occurrences each and are not listed. 256 occurrences have no formation on record, which is common for older literature.

Ziphiidae and its relatives

Miocene

Where Ziphiidae and its relatives were recorded in the Miocene.

Found in the same rock

1,382 taxa

The Paleobiology Database records 299 sites for Ziphiidae, and this reads 240 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

146 references

Each of the 380 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. 134 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 content1

Picture of Ziphiidae

Credit
PresN
Licence
CC BY-SA 3.0
Commercial use
the licence allows it

No 3D scan of Ziphiidae was found in Sketchfab.

Smithsonian Open Access and MorphoSource were not reached for this taxon, so this list is what the others held rather than everything there is.

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 itStegoceti through timeFormations of the MioceneThe world it lived on

Occurrence data from the Paleobiology Database, CC BY 4.0. (Gray 1850)