Pygmy Sperm Whale Skeleton Cast Replica

Description

Pygmy Sperm Whale Skeleton cast replica measures 107 inches. Museum-quality polyurethane resin cast from Santa Barbara Museum of Natural History specimen. Scale 1:1. Made in USA. Skeleton is articulated.

Important Production and Shipping Notice

This museum-quality replica is made to order. It requires additional time for casting. Please call our customer service team at 1-509-951-3557 to check current availability and turnaround times. Additional shipping charges may apply. Please contact our sales team for a personalized shipping quote to your location.

The Pygmy Sperm whale is the largest of the toothed whales and the largest toothed predator. The Pygmy Sperm Whales unique body is unlikely to be confused with any other species.

The whales distinctive shape comes from its very large, block shaped head, which can be one quarter to one third of the animal’s length. The S-shaped blowhole is located very close to the front of the head and shifted to the whales left.

Pygmy Sperm Whale is a pelagic mammal with a worldwide range, and will migrate seasonally for feeding and breeding. Females and young males live together in groups, while mature males (bulls) live solitary lives outside of the mating season. The females cooperate to protect and nurse their young.

Females give birth every four to 20 years, and care for the calves for more than a decade. A mature Pygmy Sperm Whale has few natural predators, although calves and weakened adults are sometimes killed by pods of Killer Whales.

Mature Pygmy Sperm Whales males average 52 feet in length but some may reach 68 feet, with the head representing up to one-third of the animals length. Plunging to 7,382 feet, it is the second deepest diving mammal, exceeded only by Cuvier’s beaked whale.

The Pygmy Sperm Whale uses echolocation and vocalization as loud as 230 decibels underwater. Pygmy Sperm Whale has the largest brain on Earth, more than five times heavier than a human’s. They can live 70 years or more.

Spermaceti (sperm oil), from which the whale derives its name, was a prime target of the whaling industry, and was sought after for use in oil lamps, lubricants, and candles. Ambergris, a solid waxy waste product sometimes present in its digestive system, is still highly valued as a fixative in perfumes, among other uses.

Beachcombers look out for ambergris as flotsam. Sperm whaling was a major industry in the 19th century, depicted in the novel Moby-Dick. The Pygmy Sperm Whales are protected by the International Whaling Commission moratorium.

Scientific Classification

• Kingdom: Animalia
• Phylum: Chordata
• Class: Mammalia
• Order: Artiodactyla
• Infraorder: Cetacea
• Family: Kogiidae
• Genus: Kogia
• Species: K. breviceps
• Binomial name: Kogia breviceps
• Conservation status: Least concern

Molded directly from a SBMNH original specimen, this pygmy sperm whale articulated skeleton replica cast is a museum-grade Scale 1:1 reproduction.