Australian Biological Resources Study

Australian Faunal Directory

Museums

Regional Maps

Family KOGIIDAE Gill, 1871


Compiler and date details

December 2010 - Updated by Stephen M. Jackson, c/- Queensland Museum, Brisbane, following Van Dyck & Strahan (2008)

Introduction

The short-headed sperm whales of the genus Kogia (Gray, 1846) have usually been placed within the Physeteridae, but recently most authors place them in the family Kogiidae. Two subfamilies were recognised by Muizon (1988): Scaphokogiinae for Scaphokogia, a Miocene fossil genus, and Kogiinae for the two extant species of Kogia.

Living kogiids are small (2-3 m in length), with a short head (14-16% of total length) by cetacean standards, and a small spermaceti organ. Unlike physeterids, the blowhole is situated on top of the head and the dorsal fin is well developed and falcate. The rostrum of the skull is very short, the jugal fuses with adjacent bones and the left naris is much larger than the right. The cup-shaped maxillae cover the entire dorsal surface of the cranium. The mandibles are thin and fragile posteriorly, the mandibular symphysis is short, and the teeth are thin and curved. All cervical vertebrae fuse together.

 

History of changes

Note that this list may be incomplete for dates prior to September 2013.
Published As part of group Action Date Action Type Compiler(s)
11-Jun-2024 11-Jun-2024 MOVED
11-Jun-2024 11-Jun-2024 MOVED
16-Dec-2010 16-Dec-2010 MODIFIED
12-Feb-2010 (import)