''Physeter'' is a genus of toothed whales. 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 '' Physeter'' and one of three extant species in the sperm whale famil ...

(''Physeter macrocephalus''). 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 The Pliocene ( ; also Pleiocene) is the epoch in the geologic time scale that extends from 5.333 million to 2.58France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan ar ...

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

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the Southeast United States Georgia may also refer to: Places Historical states and entities * Related to t ...

. ''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''.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q3382003 Sperm whales Cetacean genera Mammal genera with one living species Taxa named by Carl Linnaeus