Nature 466, 105–108 (2010)
The genus name Leviathan, proposed in this Letter for a new fossil physeteroid from the Miocene of Peru, is preoccupied by Leviathan Koch, 1841 (ref. 1), a junior subjective synonym of Mammut Blumenbach, 1799 (ref. 2). We propose here a replacement name Livyatan gen. nov. The type species is placed in this genus to form the binomial Livyatan melvillei. The diagnosis and content of the new genus follow our Letter. ‘Livyatan’ is a Hebrew name applied to large marine monsters in popular and mythological stories. We thank M. P. Taylor and D. Yanega for bringing this to our attention.
References
Koch, A. Description of the Missourium, or Missouri Leviathan 2nd edn (Prentice & Weissinger, 1841)
Blumenbach, J. F. Handbuch der Naturgeschichte, 6. Auflage (Göttingen, 1799)
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The online version of the original article can be found at 10.1038/nature09067
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Lambert, O., Bianucci, G., Post, K. et al. Erratum: The giant bite of a new raptorial sperm whale from the Miocene epoch of Peru. Nature 466, 1134 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1038/nature09381
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/nature09381
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