Mesoplodont whale
Encyclopedia
Mesoplodont whales are fourteen species
of whale
in the genus Mesoplodon, making it the largest genus in the cetacean order
. Two species were described as recently as 1991 (pygmy beaked whale) and 2002 (Perrin's beaked whale), and marine biologists predict the discovery of more species in the future. They are the most poorly known group of large mammals. The word mesoplodon comes from the Greek
meso- (middle) - hopla (arms) - odon (teeth), and may be translated as 'armed with a tooth in the centre of the jaw'.
Longman's beaked whale
(also known as the Indo-Pacific beaked whale) is also sometimes classed in the Mesoplodon genus. However, all recent authorities follow the lead of Joseph Curtis Moore, who put it in its own genus in the 1960s - Indopacetus.
s and giant beaked whale
s. The females are the same size or larger than males in every species, but the males typically have a bolder coloration and a unique dentition. The lower jaw often forms a huge arch in some species, sometimes extending above the rostrum in a shape comparable to a playground slide. Every species has large (sometimes tusk-like) teeth of variable size, shape, and position. Gray's beaked whale
, the exception, has numerous small and possibly functional teeth in the lower jaw. The males of most species are covered in scars from the teeth of other males. Both sexes often have bites from cookie-cutter sharks. The dorsal fin
is rather small and far between two-thirds and three-quarters down the back of the animal. Information on longevity and lactation is not existent, and information on gestation is nearly so.
Species
In biology, a species is one of the basic units of biological classification and a taxonomic rank. A species is often defined as a group of organisms capable of interbreeding and producing fertile offspring. While in many cases this definition is adequate, more precise or differing measures are...
of whale
Whale
Whale is the common name for various marine mammals of the order Cetacea. The term whale sometimes refers to all cetaceans, but more often it excludes dolphins and porpoises, which belong to suborder Odontoceti . This suborder also includes the sperm whale, killer whale, pilot whale, and beluga...
in the genus Mesoplodon, making it the largest genus in the cetacean order
Order (biology)
In scientific classification used in biology, the order is# a taxonomic rank used in the classification of organisms. Other well-known ranks are life, domain, kingdom, phylum, class, family, genus, and species, with order fitting in between class and family...
. Two species were described as recently as 1991 (pygmy beaked whale) and 2002 (Perrin's beaked whale), and marine biologists predict the discovery of more species in the future. They are the most poorly known group of large mammals. The word mesoplodon comes from the Greek
Greek language
Greek is an independent branch of the Indo-European family of languages. Native to the southern Balkans, it has the longest documented history of any Indo-European language, spanning 34 centuries of written records. Its writing system has been the Greek alphabet for the majority of its history;...
meso- (middle) - hopla (arms) - odon (teeth), and may be translated as 'armed with a tooth in the centre of the jaw'.
Species
English name (most common first), Latin name:- Sowerby's beaked whaleSowerby's Beaked WhaleSowerby's beaked whale , also known as the North Atlantic/North Sea beaked whale, was the first beaked whale to be described. James Sowerby, an English naturalist and artist, first described the species in 1804 from a skull obtained from a male that had stranded in the Moray Firth, Scotland, in 1800...
M. bidens - Andrew's beaked whale M. bowdoini
- Hubbs' beaked whaleHubbs' Beaked WhaleHubbs' beaked whale was initially thought to be an Andrews' beaked whale when discovered by ichthyologist Carl Hubbs; however, it was named in his honor when it was discovered to be a new species. This species has the typical dentition found in the genus, but its main outstanding features are a...
M. carlhubbsi - Blainville's beaked whaleBlainville's Beaked WhaleBlainville's beaked whale , or the dense-beaked whale, is the widest ranging mesoplodont whale and perhaps the most documented. Henri de Blainville first described the species in 1817 from a small piece of jaw—the heaviest bone he had ever come across—which resulted in the name densirostris...
M. densirostris - Gervais' beaked whaleGervais' Beaked WhaleGervais' beaked whale , sometimes known as the Antillian beaked whale, Gulf Stream beaked whale, or European beaked whale is the most frequently stranding type of mesoplodont whale off the coast of North America...
M. europaeus - Ginkgo-toothed beaked whaleGinkgo-toothed Beaked WhaleThe ginkgo-toothed beaked whale is a poorly known species of whale even for a beaked whale, and was named for the unusual shape of its dual teeth...
M. ginkgodens - Gray's beaked whaleGray's Beaked WhaleGray's beaked whale , sometimes known as Haast's beaked whale, the Scamperdown whale, or the southern beaked whale, is one of the better-known members of the genus Mesoplodon. The scientific name refers to John Edward Gray, a zoologist at the British Museum. This species is fairly gregarious and...
M. grayi - Hector's beaked whaleHector's Beaked WhaleHector's beaked whale , is a small mesoplodont living in the Southern Hemisphere. This whale is named after Sir James Hector, a founder of the colonial museum in Wellington, New Zealand...
M. hectori - Strap-toothed whale M. layardii
- True's beaked whaleTrue's Beaked WhaleThe True's Beaked Whale is a medium sized whale in the Mesoplodont genus. The common name is in reference to Frederick W. True, a curator at the United States National Museum...
M. mirus - Perrin's beaked whalePerrin's Beaked WhalePerrin's beaked whale is the newest species of beaked whale to be described. The first two specimens were found in May 1975 stranded on the California coast, with two more specimens being found in 1978 and 1979, and the last in September 1997...
M. perrini - Pygmy beaked whalePygmy Beaked WhaleThe pygmy beaked whale , also known as the bandolero beaked whale, Peruvian beaked whale and lesser beaked whale, is the smallest of the mesoplodonts and one of the newest discoveries. There were at least two dozen sightings of an unknown beaked whale named Mesoplodon sp...
M. peruvianus - Stejneger's beaked whaleStejneger's Beaked WhaleStejneger's beaked whale , sometimes known as the Bering Sea beaked whale or the Saber-toothed whale, is a poorly-known member of the genus Mesoplodon inhabiting the northern North Pacific Ocean. Leonhard Hess Stejneger initially described the species in 1885 from a skull, and nothing more of the...
M. stejnegeri - Spade-toothed whale M. traversii
- †Mesoplodon longirostris
Longman's beaked whale
Longman's Beaked Whale
The tropical bottlenose whale , also known as the Indo-Pacific beaked whale and the Longman's beaked whale, was considered to be the world's rarest cetacean until recently, but the spade-toothed whale now holds that position. The species has had a long history riddled with misidentifications, which...
(also known as the Indo-Pacific beaked whale) is also sometimes classed in the Mesoplodon genus. However, all recent authorities follow the lead of Joseph Curtis Moore, who put it in its own genus in the 1960s - Indopacetus.
Physical description
Beaked whales are typically medium- to large-sized for toothed whales, three to six meters in length, but diminutive when compared with bottlenose whaleBottlenose whale
The Northern bottlenose whale is a species of the ziphiid family, one of two members of the Hyperoodon genus. The northern bottlenose was hunted heavily by Norway and Britain in the 19th and early 20th centuries...
s and giant beaked whale
Giant beaked whale
The genus Berardius contains two species of beaked whale, Baird's beaked whale and Arnoux's beaked whale. The two species are so similar, some scientists regard their separation into distinct species as a historical anomaly...
s. The females are the same size or larger than males in every species, but the males typically have a bolder coloration and a unique dentition. The lower jaw often forms a huge arch in some species, sometimes extending above the rostrum in a shape comparable to a playground slide. Every species has large (sometimes tusk-like) teeth of variable size, shape, and position. Gray's beaked whale
Gray's Beaked Whale
Gray's beaked whale , sometimes known as Haast's beaked whale, the Scamperdown whale, or the southern beaked whale, is one of the better-known members of the genus Mesoplodon. The scientific name refers to John Edward Gray, a zoologist at the British Museum. This species is fairly gregarious and...
, the exception, has numerous small and possibly functional teeth in the lower jaw. The males of most species are covered in scars from the teeth of other males. Both sexes often have bites from cookie-cutter sharks. The dorsal fin
Dorsal fin
A dorsal fin is a fin located on the backs of various unrelated marine and freshwater vertebrates, including most fishes, marine mammals , and the ichthyosaurs...
is rather small and far between two-thirds and three-quarters down the back of the animal. Information on longevity and lactation is not existent, and information on gestation is nearly so.