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For extinct cetaceans, see List of extinct cetaceans. Cetacea is an infraorder that comprises the 94 species of whales, dolphins, and porpoises. It is divided into toothed whales (Odontoceti) and baleen whales (Mysticeti), which diverged from each other in the Eocene some 50 million years ago (mya). Cetaceans are descended from land-dwelling ...
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.
The vaquita (/ v ə ˈ k iː t ə / və-KEE-tə; Phocoena sinus) is a species of porpoise endemic to the northern end of the Gulf of California in Baja California, Mexico.Reaching a maximum body length of 150 cm (4.9 ft) (females) or 140 cm (4.6 ft) (males), it is the smallest of all living cetaceans.
Cetacea. Cetacea (/ sɪˈteɪʃə /; from Latin cetus ' whale ', from Ancient Greek κῆτος (kêtos) ' huge fish, sea monster ') [ 3 ] is an infraorder of aquatic mammals belonging to the order Artiodactyla that includes whales, dolphins and porpoises. Key characteristics are their fully aquatic lifestyle, streamlined body shape, often ...
Baleen whales(/bəˈliːn/), also known as whalebone whales, are marine mammalsof the parvorderMysticetiin the infraorder Cetacea(whales, dolphinsand porpoises), which use keratinaceousbaleenplates (or "whalebone") in their mouths to sieve planktoniccreatures from the water. Mysticeti comprises the familiesBalaenidae(rightand bowheadwhales ...
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 an informal group, unified only by their reliance on marine ...
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 ...
The common dolphin (Delphinus delphis) is the most abundant cetacean in the world, with a global population of about six million. [3] Despite this fact and its vernacular name, the common dolphin is not thought of as the archetypal dolphin, with that distinction belonging to the bottlenose dolphin due to its popular appearances in aquaria and the media.