Baleen whale
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Baleen whales
Temporal range: late Eocene–Recent
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A humpback whale breaching
Humpback whale breaching
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Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Clade: Synapsida
Class: Mammalia
Order: Ar+odactyla
Clade: Cetancodontamorpha
Suborder: Whippomorpha
Infraorder: Cetacea
Parvorder: Mys+ce+
Cope 1891
Families
Balaenopteridae
Balaenidae
Cetotheriidae
Eschrich+idae
Diversity
15 species
Synonyms
Mystacoce+
Baleen whales (systema+c name Mys+ce+), known earlier as whalebone whales, form a parvorder of the
infraorder Cetacea (whales, dolphins and porpoises). They are a widely distributed and diverse parvorder
of carnivorous marine mammals. Mys+ce+ comprise the families Balaenidae (right whales),
Balaenopteridae (rorquals), Cetotheriidae (the pygmy right whale), and Eschrich+idae (the gray whale).
There are currently 15 species of baleen whale. While cetaceans were historically thought to have
descended from mesonychids, molecular evidence supports them as rela+ves of even-toed ungulates
(Ar+odactyla). Baleen whales split from toothed whales (Odontoce+) around 34 million years ago.
Baleen whales range in size from the 20 > (6 m) and 6,600 lb (3,000 kg) pygmy right whale to the 112 >
(34 m) and 190 t (210 short tons) blue whale, which is also the largest creature on earth. They are
sexually dimorphic. Baleen whales can have streamlined or large bodies, depending on the feeding
behavior, and two limbs that are modi,ed into Aippers. Though not as Aexible and agile as seals, baleen
whales can swim very fast, with the fastest able to travel at 23 miles per hour (37 km/h). Baleen whales
use their baleen plates to ,lter out food from the water by either lunge-feeding or gulp-feeding. Baleen
whales have fused neck vertebrae, and are unable to turn their head at all. Baleen whales have two
blowholes. Some species are well adapted for diving to great depths. They have a layer of fat, or blubber,