Cetacea (/sɪˈteɪʃə/; from Latin cetus 'whale', from Ancient Greek κῆτος (kêtos) 'huge fish, sea monster') 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 large size and exclusively carnivorous diet. They propel themselves through the water with powerful up-and-down movement of their tail which ends in a paddle-like fluke, using their flipper-shaped forelimbs to maneuver.
While the majority of cetaceans live in marine environments, a small number reside solely in brackish water or fresh water. Having a cosmopolitan distribution, they can be found in some rivers and all of Earth's oceans, and many species inhabit vast ranges where they migrate with the changing of the seasons.
Cetaceans are famous for their high intelligence, complex social behaviour, and the enormous size of some of the group's members. For example, the blue whale reaches a maximum confirmed length of 29.9 meters (98 feet) and a weight of 173 tonnes (190 short tons), making it the largest animal known ever to have existed.
There are approximately 89 living species split into two parvorders: Odontoceti or toothed whales (containing porpoises, dolphins, other predatory whales like the beluga and the sperm whale, and the poorly understood beaked whales) and the filter feeding Mysticeti or baleen whales (which includes species like the blue whale, the humpback whale and the bowhead whale). Despite their highly modified bodies and carnivorous lifestyle, genetic and fossil evidence places cetaceans as nested within even-toed ungulates, most closely related to hippopotamus within the clade Whippomorpha. (Full article...)
The Humpback Whale (Megaptera novaeangliae) is a mammal which belongs to the baleen whale suborder. It is a large whale: an adult usually ranges between 12–16 m (40–50 ft) long and weighs approximately 36,000 kilograms (79,000 lb). It is well known for its breaching (leaping out of the water), its unusually long front fins, and its complex whale song. The Humpback Whale lives in oceans and seas around the world, and is regularly sought out by whale-watchers.
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Whale species | Andrews' Beaked Whale • Balaenoptera omurai • Beluga • Blainville's Beaked Whale • Blue Whale • Bottlenose Whale • Bowhead Whale • Bryde's Whale • Cuvier's Beaked Whale • Dwarf Sperm Whale • Fin Whale • Gervais' Beaked Whale • Giant beaked whale • Ginkgo-toothed Beaked Whale • Gray Whale • Gray's Beaked Whale • Hector's Beaked Whale • Hubbs' Beaked Whale • Humpback Whale • Layard's Beaked Whale • Longman's Beaked Whale • Melon-headed Whale • Minke Whale • Narwhal • Perrin's Beaked Whale • Pygmy Beaked Whale • Pygmy Killer Whale • Pygmy Right Whale • Pygmy Sperm Whale • Right Whale • Sei Whale • Shepherd's Beaked Whale • Sowerby's Beaked Whale • Spade Toothed Whale • Sperm Whale • Stejneger's Beaked Whale • True's Beaked Whale |
Dolphin species | Atlantic Spotted Dolphin • Atlantic White-sided Dolphin • Australian Snubfin Dolphin • Baiji • Boto • Chilean Dolphin • Clymene Dolphin • Commerson's Dolphin • Common Bottlenose Dolphin • Dusky Dolphin • False Killer Whale • Fraser's Dolphin • Ganges and Indus River Dolphin • Heaviside's Dolphin • Hector's Dolphin • Hourglass Dolphin • Humpback dolphin • Indo-Pacific Bottlenose Dolphin • Irrawaddy Dolphin • Killer Whale • La Plata Dolphin • Long-beaked Common Dolphin • Long-finned pilot whale • Pacific White-sided Dolphin • Pantropical Spotted Dolphin • Peale's Dolphin • Pygmy Killer Whale • Right whale dolphin • Risso's Dolphin • Rough-toothed Dolphin • Short-beaked Common Dolphin • Short-finned pilot whale • Spinner Dolphin • Striped Dolphin • Tucuxi • White-beaked Dolphin |
Porpoise species | Burmeister's Porpoise • Dall's Porpoise • Finless Porpoise • Harbour Porpoise • Spectacled Porpoise • Vaquita |
Other articles | Aboriginal whaling • Ambergris • Animal echolocation • Archaeoceti • Baleen • Baleen whale • Beached whale • Beaked Whale • Blowhole (biology) • Blubber • Bottlenose dolphin • Callosity • Cephalorhynchus • Cetacea • Cetacean intelligence • Cetology • Cetology of Moby-Dick • Common dolphin • Cumberland Sound Beluga • Dolphin • Dolphinarium • Dolphin drive hunting • Evolution of cetaceans • Exploding whale • Harpoon • History of whaling • Human–animal communication • Institute of Cetacean Research • International Whaling Commission • Lagenorhynchus • Melon (whale) • Mesoplodont Whale • Military dolphin • Moby-Dick • Mocha Dick • Monodontidae • Oceanic dolphin • Orcaella • Pilot Whale • Porpoise • River dolphin • River Thames Whale • Rorquals • Sperm whale family • Sperm whaling • Spermaceti • Stenella • Tay Whale • The Marine Mammal Center • Toothed Whale • U.S. Navy Marine Mammal Program • Whale • Whaling • Whale and Dolphin Conservation Society • Whale surfacing behaviour • Whale oil • Whale louse • Whale song • Whale watching • Wolphin |
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