Punta Buenos Aires, Between Punta Buenos Aires And Alimarante Brown Light Sta., Chubut, Argentina, South America, South Atlantic Ocean
Collection Date:
1 Feb 1973
Notes:
Tasmacetus shepherdi 660 cm female JGM 35 – USNM 484878 Thursday 1 February 1973 (see notes on fossils following 2 II 73) Up early and off for Punta Buenos Aries – found numerous seal bones along road between ?Presto and El Progresso. JM 153:11 shows the bulk of this. Notes on the Tasmacetus as the sun goes down. Just after sunset shot JM:185:1-? With strobe. These may be slightly overexposed. Katy has the measurements on this specimen in her spiral notebook. We measured and counted everything that I could think of. The girth and the fluke measurements are suspect, as the animal is bloated and the flukes are extremely flaccid. The genital area is blown out, but it appears to be a female. Could get no measurements to GAP or anus. Nor could the ear be located due to bird marks. The pigmentation was all shot, save for possibly a light patch dorsal to the flipper, which may show in some of Roger's shots. He shot a roll of Pxand one of KII. The blowhole is markedly asymmetrical, the right edge extending further anteriorly. Needless to say, everyone was elated, as it was sheer luck that brought us here. We had been trying to get to Punta Buenos Aries by road and had given up and walked over to the top of the cliff above this specimen. We started to head west to look for the loberia when we spotted the carcass. Had the road gone on, or stopped earlier, we would not have found it. Plus, this is probably the only place along the cliffs where we can go up and down with relative ease. Add all this onto finding the fossil whale skeleton at San Roman and we have had a truly fine day. Even as I was wandering around looking for firewood, I found a vertebra in a boulder. The sun is now well down (21:15 hrs) and the sky has clouded up. Looks like a very black night. The tide is halfway up the carcass, which is tied by the tail to a rock. Looks like rain. I sure hope it doesn't. Tasmacetus external measurements JGM 35 female - measurements originally taken in inches inches cm Eye to angle of mouth 17.5 44.5 Blubber thickness - mid-dorsal 2.5 6.35 Blubber thickness - mid-ventral 1.7 4.32 Length of gape 23 58.4 Snout to eye 40.5 103 Projection lower jaw ~0.5 1.3 Snout to apex of melon 14 36 Snout to blowhole 42 107
Record Last Modified:
13 May 2024
Specimen Count:
1
Taxonomy:
Animalia, Chordata, Vertebrata, Mammalia, Eutheria, Cetacea, Odontoceti, Ziphiidae
