Spade-toothed whale

The spade-toothed whale (Mesoplodon traversii) is a  species of beaked whale. Very little is known about the species. In total,  only six specimens are known, and the species has never been seen alive. 

 Discovery 
It was first named from a partial jaw found on Pitt Island, New Zealand, in 1872. It was reported and illustated in  1873 by James Hector (referring it to M. layardii), and described as a new species the next year by John Edward Gray, who named it in honor of Henry Hammersley Travers, the collector. This was eventually lumped with the strap-toothed whale, starting as early as an 1878 article by Hector, who never considered the specimen to be specifically distinct. A calvaria found in the 1950s at White Island, also New Zealand, initially remained undescribed, but was later believed to be from a ginkgo-toothed beaked whale.

In 1993, a damaged calvaria was found washed up on Robinson Crusoe Island, Chile, and was described as a new species, Mesoplodon bahamondi or Bahamonde's beaked whale.

In December 2010, two specimens, a cow and calf, were found stranded on Opape Beach, Bay of Plenty, New Zealand. They were originally thought to be Gray's beaked whale. Genetic analysis later  showed that they represented the first complete specimens of the spade-toothed whale. After this find, a report describing the spade-toothed whale and an analysis of their DNA later appeared in the 6 November 2012 issue of the journal Current Biology.

The results of DNA sequence and morphological comparisons have shown all three finds came from the same species, which is therefore properly known as M. traversii. The external appearance was only described in 2012, and it is likely to be the most poorly known large mammalian species of modern times.

Because of where these specimens were initially located at, it is assumed that the remaining population of M. traversii lives only in the South Pacific.

 References 

 Other websites 

 Whale & Dolphin Conservation Society (WDCS)
Category:Toothed whales