''Physeter'' is a genus of

toothed whale The toothed whales (also called odontocetes, systematic name Odontoceti) are a parvorder of cetaceans that includes dolphins, porpoises, and all other whales with teeth, such as beaked whales and the sperm whales. 73 species of toothed wha ...

s. There is only one living species in this genus: the

sperm whale The sperm whale or cachalot (''Physeter macrocephalus'') is the largest of the toothed whales and the largest toothed predator. It is the only living member of the Genus (biology), genus ''Physeter'' and one of three extant species in the s ...

(''Physeter macrocephalus''). Some extremely poorly known

fossil A fossil (from Classical Latin , ) is any preserved remains, impression, or trace of any once-living thing from a past geological age. Examples include bones, shells, exoskeletons, stone imprints of animals or microbes, objects preserve ...

species have also been assigned to the same genus including ''Physeter antiquus'' (5.3–2.6 mya) from the

Pliocene The Pliocene ( ; also Pleiocene) is the epoch (geology), epoch in the geologic time scale that extends from 5.33 to 2.58France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

, and ''Physeter vetus'' (2.6 mya – 12 ka) from the

Quaternary The Quaternary ( ) is the current and most recent of the three periods of the Cenozoic Era in the geologic time scale of the International Commission on Stratigraphy (ICS), as well as the current and most recent of the twelve periods of the ...

of the U.S. state of

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the South Caucasus * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the southeastern United States Georgia may also refer to: People and fictional characters * Georgia (name), a list of pe ...

. ''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''. 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. The name is from Greek () .Alexander Senning, ''The Etymology of Chemical Names'' (Walter de Gruyter, 2019, ISBN 3110612712), p. 280.

References

{{Authority control Sperm whales Cetacean genera Mammal genera with one living species Taxa named by Carl Linnaeus