TY - JOUR
T1 - Living fast and dying young
T2 - life history and ecology of a Neogene sperm whale
AU - Gilbert, K. N.
AU - Ivany, L. C.
AU - Uhen, M. D.
N1 - Funding Information:
We thank D. Bohaska and N. Pyenson at the U.S. National Museum of Natural History for access to collections and specimen loans. P. Best graciously shared his data. D. Moss helped with von Bertalanffy growth statistics. M. Riccio at the Cornell University Imaging Facility helped with micro-CT scanning. J. Hinchcliff prepared thin sections and some polished cross-sections. We thank R. Campbell-Malone, B. Wilkinson, J. Brower, and A. Dooley for helpful discussion. G. Bianucci, O. Lambert, and J. Velez-Juarbe provided thorough and helpful reviews that improved the quality of the manuscript. This research was made possible by funding from a National Science Foundation Graduate Fellowship, the Eastern Federation of Mineralogical and Lapidary Societies, an Ellis L. Yochelson Award from the Paleontological Society, a Ronald E. McNair Graduate Fellowship, and the Syracuse University Graduate School.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2018, © by the Society of Vertebrate Paleontology.
PY - 2018/3/4
Y1 - 2018/3/4
N2 - Physeteroidea (sperm whales) attained great diversity during the Miocene and early Pliocene, and the phosphatic sands of the U.S. Atlantic Coastal Plain have produced thousands of specimens. Although postcranial and cranial materials are rare, teeth are remarkably common and have the potential to provide valuable insight into the lives of these animals. We examine a suite of Physeteroidea indet. teeth from the Lee Creek Mine to better constrain the life history and ecology of this extinct group. Wear facets indicate that these animals, unlike modern sperm whales, had both maxillary and mandibular teeth, suggesting a raptorial feeding ecology more akin to killer whales. A relationship between tooth diameter and body size established for modern odontocetes suggests that these animals as adults were also about the size of modern killer whales. Because physeteroid teeth grow continuously over ontogeny and are not replaced, counts of accretionary growth layer groups can be used to ascertain the age of an animal at death. Tallies of growth increments from 10 teeth, including some of the largest available, reveal that life spans only rarely exceeded 20 years, significantly shorter than the 65+ years typical of modern sperm whales or orcas. Despite their large size, these odontocetes experienced a ‘fast’ life history, more like beluga whales today. We suggest that the rapid growth and short life span exhibited by the Lee Creek physeteroids are, like the modern beluga, evolutionary responses to high predation pressure imposed by large co-occurring predatory taxa, particularly including Carcharocles megalodon or other large macroraptorial physeteorids. SUPPLEMENTAL DATA—Supplemental materials are available for this article for free at www.tandfonline.com/UJVP Citation for this article: Gilbert, K. N., L. C. Ivany, and M. D. Uhen. 2018. Living fast and dying young: life history and ecology of a Neogene sperm whale. Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology. DOI: 10.1080/02724634.2018.1439038.
AB - Physeteroidea (sperm whales) attained great diversity during the Miocene and early Pliocene, and the phosphatic sands of the U.S. Atlantic Coastal Plain have produced thousands of specimens. Although postcranial and cranial materials are rare, teeth are remarkably common and have the potential to provide valuable insight into the lives of these animals. We examine a suite of Physeteroidea indet. teeth from the Lee Creek Mine to better constrain the life history and ecology of this extinct group. Wear facets indicate that these animals, unlike modern sperm whales, had both maxillary and mandibular teeth, suggesting a raptorial feeding ecology more akin to killer whales. A relationship between tooth diameter and body size established for modern odontocetes suggests that these animals as adults were also about the size of modern killer whales. Because physeteroid teeth grow continuously over ontogeny and are not replaced, counts of accretionary growth layer groups can be used to ascertain the age of an animal at death. Tallies of growth increments from 10 teeth, including some of the largest available, reveal that life spans only rarely exceeded 20 years, significantly shorter than the 65+ years typical of modern sperm whales or orcas. Despite their large size, these odontocetes experienced a ‘fast’ life history, more like beluga whales today. We suggest that the rapid growth and short life span exhibited by the Lee Creek physeteroids are, like the modern beluga, evolutionary responses to high predation pressure imposed by large co-occurring predatory taxa, particularly including Carcharocles megalodon or other large macroraptorial physeteorids. SUPPLEMENTAL DATA—Supplemental materials are available for this article for free at www.tandfonline.com/UJVP Citation for this article: Gilbert, K. N., L. C. Ivany, and M. D. Uhen. 2018. Living fast and dying young: life history and ecology of a Neogene sperm whale. Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology. DOI: 10.1080/02724634.2018.1439038.
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U2 - 10.1080/02724634.2018.1439038
DO - 10.1080/02724634.2018.1439038
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85045103420
SN - 0272-4634
VL - 38
JO - Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology
JF - Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology
IS - 2
M1 - e1439038
ER -