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The blue whale is the largest animal known ever to have existed. [42] [43] [44] Some studies have estimated that certain shastasaurid ichthyosaurs and the ancient whale Perucetus could have rivalled the blue whale in size, with Perucetus also being heavier than the blue whale with a mean weight of 180 t (180 long tons; 200 short tons).
The largest land mammal extant today is the African bush elephant. The largest extinct land mammal known was long considered to be Paraceratherium orgosensis, a rhinoceros relative thought to have stood up to 4.8 m (15.7 ft) tall, measured over 7.4 m (24.3 ft) long and may have weighed about 17 tonnes.
Marine mammals comprise over 130 living and recently extinct species in three taxonomic orders. The Society for Marine Mammalogy , an international scientific society , maintains a list of valid species and subspecies , most recently updated in October 2015. [ 1 ]
A humpback whale (Megaptera novaeangliae) A leopard seal (Hydrurga leptonyx). Marine mammals are mammals that rely on marine (saltwater) ecosystems for their existence. They include animals such as cetaceans (whales, dolphins and porpoises), pinnipeds (seals, sea lions and walruses), sirenians (manatees and dugongs), sea otters and polar bears.
They are the mammals most fully adapted to aquatic life with a spindle-shaped nearly hairless body, protected by a thick layer of blubber, and forelimbs and tail modified to provide propulsion underwater. Suborder: Mysticeti. Family: Balaenidae. Bowhead whale, B. mysticetus [n 3] [n 39] (Alaska only) LC (Bering-Chukchi-Beaufort Sea ...
The largest extant monotreme (egg-bearing mammal) is the western long-beaked echidna (Zaglossus bruijni) weighing up to 16.5 kg (36 lb) and measuring 1 m (3.3 ft) long. [88] The largest monotreme ever was the extinct echidna species Murrayglossus hacketti , known only from a few bones found in Western Australia .
This is a list of North American mammals. It includes all mammals currently found in the United States , St. Pierre and Miquelon , Canada , Greenland , Bermuda , Mexico , Central America , and the Caribbean region, whether resident or as migrants .
They are sometimes called "wolves of the sea", because they hunt in groups like wolf packs. [61] Orcas hunt varied prey including fish, cephalopods, mammals, seabirds, and sea turtles. [62] Different populations or ecotypes may specialize, and some can have a dramatic impact on prey species. [63]