A review of nineteenth-century records of Sowerby's beaked whale (Mesoplodon bidens)

Abstract

Data on 27 mesoplodont whales are compiled from the original nineteenth century published records from Britain, Ireland, Europe and the United States. These data comprise the type specimen of Sowerby's beaked whale ( Mesoplodon bidens) and 26 other records, all referred to the taxon M. bidens. Records may include the following information: specimen total length, sex, date of discovery and the locality, pigmentation pattern, external morphology, osteology and soft-tissue anatomy. This information is summarized here from the original descriptions. Only a handful of these specimens was externally complete when described at first hand.