https://doi.org/10.82144/984928a2 https://seamap.env.duke.edu/dataset/882 https://www.gbif.org/dataset/38e81490-2a06-4b0e-9274-609bd7c65bc6 https://obis.org/dataset/7d9f4933-2eb4-4dac-bf50-5d9e0682e317 Rochelle Constantine School of Biological Sciences, University of Auckland Primary contact r.constantine@auckland.ac.nz OBIS-SEAMAP Marine Geospatial Ecology Lab, Duke University

A328 LSRC building Durham NC 27708 US

seamap-contact@duke.edu https://seamap.env.duke.edu OBIS-SEAMAP Marine Geospatial Ecology Lab, Duke University

A328 LSRC building Durham NC 27708 US

seamap-contact@duke.edu https://seamap.env.duke.edu distributor Rochelle Constantine School of Biological Sciences, University of Auckland Primary contact r.constantine@auckland.ac.nz owner 2025-07-31 eng Original provider: University of Auckland & New Zealand Department of Conservation Dataset credits: Peter Livingstone, New Zealand Department of Conservation Rochelle Constantine, University of Auckland Abstract: The vast expanses of the South Pacific Ocean have, until recently, concealed the identity of the world's rarest whale, the spade-toothed beaked whale (<i>Mesoplodon traversii</i>). Based on the scarcity of records and the total absence of previous sightings, this species is the least known species of whale and one of the world’s rarest living mammals. Two individuals of this species, previously known from only two skull fragments and a mandible, were recently discovered beachcast in New Zealand. Although initially misidentified, we have used DNA analysis to reveal their true identity. We provide the first morphological description and images of this enigmatic species. This study highlights the importance of DNA typing and reference collections for the identification of rare species. Occurrence GBIF Dataset Type Vocabulary: http://rs.gbif.org/vocabulary/gbif/dataset_type.xml Observation GBIF Dataset Subtype Vocabulary: http://rs.gbif.org/vocabulary/gbif/dataset_subtype.xml Marine Biology Visual sighting Land-based Sightings N/A Data of two stranded individuals are represented as one observation. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution (CC-BY) 4.0 License. https://seamap.env.duke.edu/dataset/882 Oceans,New Zealand 177.4188889 177.4188889 -37.9775 -37.9775 2010-12-31 2010-12-31 Scientific names are based on the Integrated Taxonomic Information System (ITIS). species Mesoplodon traversii Spade-toothed whale notPlanned Rochelle Constantine School of Biological Sciences, University of Auckland Primary contact r.constantine@auckland.ac.nz NA NA NA Rochelle Constantine owner NA zd_882 2025-07-31T15:50:19-04:00 dataset Constantine, R. 2013. Stranded spade-toothed beaked whales in New Zealand in 2010. Version 1.0.0. Dataset published in OBIS-SEAMAP. https://doi.org/10.82144/984928a2. OBIS-SEAMAP Dataset Page UTF-8 Interactive map https://seamap.env.duke.edu/dataset/882 FGDC Metadata UTF-8 XML https://seamap.env.duke.edu/dataset/882/fgdc EML Metadata UTF-8 XML https://seamap.env.duke.edu/dataset/882/eml OBIS-SEAMAP zd_882 zd_882 Thompson, K., C.S. Baker, A. van Helden, S. Patel, C. Millar and R. Constantine. 2012. The world's rarest whale. Current Biology: 22: 905-906.