whales

This article is about a marine mammal. For other uses, see Whale (disambiguation).

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Whale
Temporal range: 50–0Ma

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Eocene – Recent North Atlantic right whales, mother and calf

Scientific classification

Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Mammalia
Subclass: Eutheria
Order: Cetacea

Whale (origin Old English hwæl from Proto-Germanic *hwalaz) is the common name for various marine mammals of the order Cetacea.[1] The term whale sometimes refers to all cetaceans, but more often it excludes dolphins and porpoises, which belong to the suborder Odontoceti (toothed whales). This suborder includes the sperm whale, killer whale, pilot whale, and beluga whale. The other Cetacean suborder, Mysticeti (baleen whales), comprises filter feeders that eat small organisms caught by straining seawater through a comblike structure found in the mouth called baleen. This suborder includes the blue whale, the humpback whale, the bowhead whale and the minke whale. All cetaceans have forelimbs modified as fins, a tail with horizontal flukes, and nasal openings (blowholes) on top of the head.

Whales range in size from the blue whale, the largest animal known to have ever existed[2] at 30 m (98 ft) and 180 tonnes (180 long tons; 200 short tons), to pygmy species such as the pygmy sperm whale at 3.5 m (11 ft). Whales inhabit all the world 's oceans and number in the millions, with annual population growth rate estimates for various species ranging from 3% to 13%.[3] Whales are long-lived, humpback whales living for up to 77 years, while bowhead whales may live for over a century.

Human hunting of whales from the 17th century until 1986 radically reduced the populations of some whale species. Whales have appeared in literature since the time of the Old Testament, play a role in Inuit creation myths, and are revered by coastal people in Ghana and Vietnam.

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