The original description of _B. bairdii_ by Doctor Stejneger is as
follows:
Besides an _Orca_, which is said to visit the rookeries, but of which I
have not been able to procure any specimen, or even to see one, there
are at least two species of the family _Ziphiidæ_, both undescribed, as
I suppose. I am very much indebted to Mr. Grebnitzki for a skull of
each of the species, for one of which I should like to propose the name
_Berardius bairdii_, as a slight token of my esteem and gratitude.
As I am now almost without any literary means, I find it impossible to
decide with certainty in what genus this species will finally have to
be placed. But I think that the supposition that this specimen (No.
1520) is a young _Berardius_ may not be far out of the way. At first I
suspected that it is a _Dioplodon_, but the size of the skull, in
connection with the distinctness of the sutures, the evident maxillary
crests, and the terminal position of the teeth very soon led me to the
above conclusion.
The specimen in question has very low and scarcely incurved maxillary
crests; the shortest distance of which is two and two-thirds times
greater than their greatest height, and although it still is in its
“adolescent” stage, I should greatly doubt whether the crests in this
species ever become developed to such a degree as, for instance, in
_Hyperoödon diodon_ (Lacép.). The groove between the maxillary and the
nuchal crest is very shallow. The maxillary notch is deep. The beak is
long, making only a little less than half the length of the entire
skull. Nares straight; right nasal larger than the left one, but not
very much. The occipital condyles do not come in contact beneath the
foramen magnum; the symphysis of the lower jaw is very short, amounting
to only one-fifth of the whole length of the jaw.
Want of time and books prevents me from making more extended remarks,
and until I can present an exhaustive and comparative description, I
shall have to content myself by giving a provisional table of
dimensions. The following dimensions are in millimeters and English
inches, and are in every case measured in a straight line:
mm. in.
Length of skull 1,405 55.32
Greatest breadth 698 27.48
Greatest height 530 20.87
Length from process of supramaxillaries before orbit 610 24.02
to posterior edge of condyles
Length from same process to tip of beak 890 35.04
Depth of maxillary notch 50 1.97
Length of premaxillaries 1,222 48.11
Premaxillaries reach beyond supramaxillaries 134 5.28
Distance of upper edge of maxillary crests at their 228 8.98
anterior end
Distance of same at their middle 358 14.10
Greatest height of maxillary crests 86 3.39
Length of visible part of vomer 325 12.80
Distance from anterior tip of vomer to tip of beak 275 10.83
Length of pterygoids 295 11.62
Height of foramen magnum 70 2.76
Width of foramen magnum 80 3.15
Distance of condyles at upper edge of foramen magnum 100 3.94
Closest approximation of condyles beneath the foramen 2 0.08
magnum
Entire length of lower jaw 1,292 50.88
Height of lower jaw at second tooth groove 100 3.94
Length of symphysis 257 10.12
Greatest diameter of foremost tooth groove 100 3.94
(longitudinal)
Shortest diameter of foremost tooth groove 45 1.77
(transverse)
Greatest diameter of posterior tooth groove 40 1.58
(longitudinal)
Shortest diameter of posterior tooth groove 35 1.38
(transverse)
Distance between the tooth grooves 65 2.56
This specimen was found stranded in Stare Gavan, on the eastern shore
of Bering Island in the fall of last year, and only the skull was
preserved. From analogy I should judge that the entire length of the
animal must have been about 18 feet (5½ meters). This species is well
known by the natives for the cathartic quality of the blubber,
resembling in this respect the Atlantic “Dögling,” or “Anarnak”
(_Hyperoödon diodon_). The Russian name, by which the inhabitants here
designate this whale, is _Pla-un_ (sp. Pläoon), while the Aleut name is
_Kigan agalusoch_, the meaning of which is said to be “having teeth on
the nose,” a very inappropriate designation, as the teeth are situated
on the tip of the lower jaw, and not on the nose.[53]