Physeter

Physeter is a genus of toothed whales. There is only one living species in this genus: the sperm whale (Physeter macrocephalus).^[2] Some extremely poorly known fossil species have also been assigned to the same genus including Physeter antiquus (5.3–2.6 mya) from the Pliocene of France,^[3] and Physeter vetus (2.6 mya – 12 ka) from the Quaternary of the U.S. state of Georgia.^[4] Physeter vetus is very likely an invalid species, as the few teeth that were used to identify this species appear to be identical to those of another toothed whale, Orycterocetus quadratidens.^[5]

Physeter Temporal range: Zanclean – Recent PreꞒ Ꞓ O S D C P T J K Pg N [1]
Skeleton of a sperm whale, the only extant member of the genus
Scientific classification
Domain:	Eukaryota
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Mammalia
Order:	Artiodactyla
Suborder:	Whippomorpha
Infraorder:	Cetacea
Family:	Physeteridae
Subfamily:	Physeterinae
Genus:	Physeter Linnaeus, 1758
Type species
Physeter macrocephalus Linnaeus, 1758
Species
Physeter macrocephalus †Physeter antiquus

Sperm whales spend more than 72% of their time engaged in foraging dive cycles. Foraging behavior, including buzz vocalizations for prey capture. The efficiency of sperm whale foraging is attributed to their effective long range echolocation, and efficient locomotion during deep dives. ^[6]

The name is from Greek φυσητήρ (physētēr) 'blowpipe, blowhole (of a whale)'.^[7]