| Aulophyseter Temporal range: Mid-Late Miocene | |
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| Skeleton of A. morricei at the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County | |
Scientific classification  | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Mammalia |
| Order: | Artiodactyla |
| Infraorder: | Cetacea |
| Family: | Physeteridae |
| Subfamily: | Physeterinae |
| Genus: | Aulophyseter Kellogg, 1927 [1] |
| Species | |
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Aulophyseter is an extinct genus of sperm whales from the subfamily Physeterinae that existed during the Miocene.
Aulophyseter is estimated to have been 6.4 metres (21 ft) long, [3] and weighed approximately 1,100 kilograms (2,400 lb). [4] On the maxilla and mandible, Aulophyseter possessed small, sharp teeth that lack enamel.
Aulophyseter's small teeth lack enamel, which suggests that its feeding habits were more similar to those of modern sperm whales than to other early sperm whales. The diet of Aulophyseter was largely limited to cephalopods and fish. [5]
This condition appeared convergently in other physeteroids, such as Aulophyseter (6.4 m), Zygophyseter (7 m), Brygmophyseter (c. 6 m) and probably Albicetus (5.9 m) during the Middle and Late Miocene
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