Catodon (Meganeuron) krefftii Gray 1865

Catodon (Meganeuron) krefftii Gray, 1865b

Proc. Zool. Soc. Lond. 1865: 440, figs 1–4. (October 1865).

Common name. Sperm Whale.

Current name. Physeter macrocephalus Linnaeus, 1758; following Perrin (2009e).

Holotype. PA.339 by subsequent determination.Atlas bone, and fused cervical vertebrae 2–7. Not marked as a type in the original entry by Palmer, which states “vertebra of whale” but no other information and no species entry.

Condition. PA.339. Vertebrae and epiphyses are intact and in good condition.

Type locality. “Australian seas” (Gray, 1865b: 439).

Comments. Both elements registered as PA.339 accord well with the drawings in the original description. Gray erected the subgenus Meganeuron and the new species using photographs sent by Krefft, of two bones held in the AM: the atlas vertebrae and several cervical vertebrae fused into one mass. The fused cervical vertebrae were deemed by Krefft and Gray to be a good fit with the atlas bone, and these appear to be the only bones obtained from the specimen. Subsequently, Gray (1866a: 389) reported that he had just received a letter from Krefft, in which Krefft stated that he had changed his mind, and now considered the cervical vertebrae to belong to “ Catodon australis ”. Consequently, Gray (1866a) attributed his captions to figs 96–97 of the vertebrae to “ Meganeuron krefftii? or Catodon australis ”.