Whale Classification - Enchanted Learning Software

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Zoom Whales
WHALE CLASSIFICATION

Mysticeti,
Baleen Whales

Odontoceti,
Toothed Whales

Archaeoceti
Extinct, Primitive Whales

Taxonomy and Cladistics

WHALE CLASSIFICATION
There are two types of whales alive today: toothed whales, Odontoceti, and baleen whales, Mysticeti. Toothed whales have teeth, are predators that eat fish, squid, and marine mammals, have a single blowhole, and use echolocation. Baleen whales are larger than the toothed whales, are filter feeders that use baleen to sieve food (baleen is a comb-like structure that filters the baleen whales' food from the water), and have 2 blowholes.

A primitive groups of cetaceans, the Archaeoceti, evolved during the Eocene epoch, about 50 million years ago.

The following is the Linnaean taxonomy of cetaceans:

Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata (vertebrates)
Class: Mammalia (mammals)
Order: Cetacea

Whales belong to the order Cetacea (from the Greek word "cetus" which means whale), which is divided into the following suborders:

Odontoceti or toothed whales - These whales have teeth and a single blowhole.
- family Physeteridae - Large heads
  - Sperm whale (Physeter macrocephalus)
- family Kogiidae -
  - Pygmy Sperm Whale (Kogia breviceps)
  - Dwarf Sperm Whale (Kogia simus)
- family Zipihiidae - the many Beaked Whales, including:
  - Andrew's Beaked Whale (Mesoplodon bowdoini)
  - Arnoux's Beaked Whale (Berardius arnuxii)
  - Baird's Beaked Whale (Berardius bairdii)
  - Blainville's Beaked Whale (Mesoplodon densirostris)
  - Cuvier's Beaked Whale (Ziphius cavirostris)
  - Gervais' Beaked Whale (Mesoplodon europaeus)
  - Ginkgo-Toothed Beaked Whale (Mesoplodon ginkgodens)
  - Gray's Beaked Whale (Mesoplodon grayi)
  - Hector's Beaked Whale (Mesoplodon hectori)
  - Hubb's Beaked Whale (Mesoplodon carlhubbsi)
  - Longman's Beaked Whale (Mesoplodon pacificus)
  - Northern Bottlenose Whale (Hyperoodon ampullatus)
  - Southern Bottlenose Whale (Hyperoodon planifrons)
  - Sowerby's Beaked Whale (Mesoplodon bidens)
  - Straptoothed Whale (Mesoplodon layardii)
  - Stejneger's Beaked Whale (Mesoplodon stejnegeri)
  - Tasman Beaked Whale (Tasmacetus shepherdi)
  - True's Beaked Whale (Mesoplodon mirus)
- family Delphinidae - Oceanic Dolphins, large, with a falcate dorsal fin, Pilot Whales
  - Atlantic Humpbacked Dolphin (Sousa teuszii)
  - Atlantic Spotted Dolphin (Stenella plagiodon)
  - Atlantic White-Sided Dolphin (Lagenorhynchus acutus)
  - Black Dolphin (Cephalorhynchus eutropia)
  - Bottlenose Dolphin (Tursiops truncatus)
  - Clymene Dolphin (Stenella clymene)
  - Commerson's Dolphin (Cephalorhynchus commersonii)
  - Common Dolphin (Delphinus delphis)
  - Dusky Dolphin (Lagenorhynchus obscurus)
  - False Killer Whale (Pseudorca crassidens)
  - Fraser's Dolphin (Lagenodelphis hosei)
  - Indo-Pacific Humpbacked Dolphin (Sousa chinensis)
  - Heaviside's Dolphin (Cephalorhynchus heavisidii)
  - Hector's Dolphin (Cephalorhynchus hectori)
  - Hourglass Dolphin (Lagenorhynchus cruciger)
  - Irrawaddy Dolphin (Orcaella brevirostris)
  - Killer Whale (Orcinus orca)
  - Long-Finned Pilot Whale (Globicephala melaena)
  - Melon-Headed Whale (Peponocephala electra)
  - Northern Right Whale Dolphin (Lissodelphis borealis)
  - Pacific White-Sided Dolphin (Lagenorhynchus obliquidens)
  - Peale's Dolphin (Lagenorhynchus australis)
  - Pygmy Killer Whale (Feresa attenuata)
  - Risso's Dolphin (Grampus griseus)
  - Rough-Toothed Dolphin (Steno bredanensis)
  - Short-Finned Pilot Whale (Globicephala macrorhynchus)
  - Southern Right Whale Dolphin (Lissodelphis peronii)
  - Spinner Dolphin (Stenella longirostris)
  - Spotted Dolphin (Stenella attenuata)
  - Striped Dolphin (Stenella coeruleoalba)
  - Tucuxi (Sotalia fluviatilis)
  - White-Beaked Dolphin (Lagenorhynchus albirostris)
- family Monodontidae - white whales with no dorsal fin and a blunt head.
  - Narwhal (Monodon monoceros)
- family Platanistidae - river dolphins - light colored and long beaks
  - Amazon River Dolphin (Inia geoffrensis)
  - Chinese River Dolphin (Lipotes vexillifer)
  - Franciscana (Pontoporia blainvillei)
  - Ganges River Dolphin (Platanista gangetica)
  - Indus River Dolphin (Platanista minor)
- family Iniidae - Amazon River Dolphin (Inia geoffrensis) ???
- family Pontoporiidae -
  - Yangtze River Dolphin
  - La Plata Dolphin
- family Phocoenidae - Porpoises - small, with reduced beak and triangular dorsal fin if present.
  - Burmeister's Porpoise (Phocoena spinipinnis)
  - Cochito (Phocoena sinus)
  - Dall's Porpoise (Phocoenoides dalli)
  - Finless Porpoise (Neophocaena phocaenoides)
  - Harbour Porpoise (Phocoena phocoena)
  - Spectacled Porpoise (Phocoena dioptrica)
Mysticeti or baleen whales - blue whales, humpback whales, gray whales and right whales. These "great whales" are among the largest animals on earth. They have baleen plates instead of teeth, which they use to filter food. They are larger than the toothed whales and have two blowholes.
- Family Eschrichtiidae - the gray whale (Eschrichtius robustus) is the only bottom feeder. As it swims along the bottom of the ocean stirring up sediment, it takes the nutrient-rich murky water into its mouth, and forces it out through its short baleen, retaining tiny organisms.
- Family Balaenopteridae (the rorqual whales; rorqual is Norwegian for furrow). These whales have 25-100 parallel throat grooves that extend from the throat to the flippers. When they eat, these grooves expand, allowing them to take huge gulps of water, forcing it through their short baleen to filter out tiny organisms. They have long, sleek bodies, a median notch, and a small dorsal fin.
  Subfamily: Balaenopterinae - streamlined body, small, falcate dorsal fin
  - Blue Whale (Balaenoptera musculus)
  - Bryde's Whale (Balaenoptera edeni)
  - Fin Whale (Balaenoptera physalus)
  - Minke Whale (Balaenoptera acutorostrata)
  - Sei Whale (Balaenoptera borealis)
  Subfamily: Megapterinae - long flippers with rough edges
  - Humpback Whale (Megeptera novaeangliae)
- Family Balaenidae - the right whales swim along the surface open-mouthed, skimming the water with long, fine baleen. They have no dorsal fin, no throat grooves, and a huge, arched jaw.
  - Bowhead Whale (Balaena mysticetus)
  - Northern Right whale (Eubalaena glacialis)
  - Southern Right Whale (Eubalaena australis)
- Family Neobalaenidae - bowed head, short baleen, falcate dorsal fin.
  - Pygmy Right Whale (Caperea marginata)
Suborder Archaeoceti (archaeocetes or zeuglodonts) - extinct, primitive whales from the Eocene
- Family Protocetidae
  - Pakicetus
  - Protocetus
- Family Dorudontidae
  - Zygorhiza
- Family Basilosauridae
  - Basilosaurus

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As a thank-you bonus, site members have access to a banner-ad-free version of the site, with print-friendly pages.

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Zoom Whales
WHALE CLASSIFICATION

Mysticeti,
Baleen Whales

Odontoceti,
Toothed Whales

Archaeoceti
Extinct, Primitive Whales

Taxonomy and Cladistics

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