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The sperm whale or cachalot [a] (Physeter macrocephalus) is the largest of the toothed whales and the largest toothed predator.It is the only living member of the genus Physeter and one of three extant species in the sperm whale family, along with the pygmy sperm whale and dwarf sperm whale of the genus Kogia.
Spermaceti is taken from the spermaceti organ (yellow) and junk (orange) within the sperm whale's head. Raw spermaceti is liquid within the head of the sperm whale, and is said to have a smell similar to raw milk. [8] It is composed mostly of wax esters (chiefly cetyl palmitate) and a smaller proportion of triglycerides. [9]
For dramatic effect, Melville asserts inaccurately that the sperm whale is the largest creature on Earth. While the blue whale, the true largest whale, was not well-observed at that time, the fin-back whale, the second-largest whale species, was known to whalers and occasionally hunted. The sperm whale is the third-largest whale species. II.
The blue whale diverged from other Balaenopteridae (including fin and northern minke whales) between 5 and 10 million years ago, and the oldest fossil representing something similar to today’s ...
The blue whale (Balaenoptera musculus) is a marine mammal and a baleen whale.Reaching a maximum confirmed length of 29.9 m (98 ft) and weighing up to 199 t (196 long tons; 219 short tons), it is the largest animal known ever to have existed.
Dawn the humpback whale in the Sacramento River in 2007 Cetaceans are the animals commonly known as whales , dolphins , and porpoises . This list includes individuals from real life or fiction, where fictional individuals are indicated by their source.
Sperm whale and bottlenose whale. The sperm whale (Physeter macrocephalus) is the largest species of toothed whale, with adult bulls (males) growing to be about 15–18 m (49–59 ft) long, and weighing about 45–70 metric tons (44–69 long tons; 50–77 short tons).
Rorquals (/ ˈ r ɔːr k w əl z /) are the largest group of baleen whales, comprising the family Balaenopteridae, which contains nine extant species in two genera.They include the largest known animal that has ever lived, the blue whale, which can reach 180 tonnes (200 short tons), and the fin whale, which reaches 120 tonnes (130 short tons); even the smallest of the group, the northern minke ...