Feeding | Whales Feeding Reproducing Feeding Whales can be divided into two types by the way they feed—baleen whales (Mysticetes) and toothed whales (Odontecetes). Baleen whales are “batch feeders”—they use their plates of baleen to filter huge numbers of tiny prey out of the water. They can be divided into three groups, according to how they filter their food: Rorquals, such as Bryde's whale, are gulpers. They take in huge amounts of water with their prey, their pleated throats billowing out to accommodate it. Then they force the water out with their tongues, straining the food through the mesh of baleen. Right whales skim feed. They cruise through the water with their enormous, arched mouths open, continuously filtering out prey. Gray whales are silt sifters. They pump water and sediment from the seafloor through one side of their mouths, across the baleen, and out the other. Toothed whales tend to eat individual animals, such as squid, fish, and in some cases, other marine mammals. These whales locate their prey by using echolocation—like human sonar.

They either seize their prey with their teeth or suck them directly into their mouths and swallow them whole. Feeding - Whales Tohorā - Museum of New Zealand Te Papa TongarewaFeeding Humpback whales feeding at the surface. Photograph by K. Shorter, Stellwagen Bank National Marine Sanctuary, Massachusetts, USA. Feeding Whales can be divided into two types by the way they feed – baleen whales (Mysticetes) and toothed whales (Odontocetes). Baleen whales are ‘batch feeders’ – they use their plates of baleen to filter huge numbers of tiny prey out of the water. Toothed whales hunt their prey one by one. They use echolocation to find it and usually swallow it whole. Humpback whales feeding at the surface with baleen hanging from their upper jaw. Photograph by K. Shorter, Stellwagen Bank National Marine Sanctuary, Massachusetts, USA. Baleen whales - Gulpers, skimmers, and silt sifters Baleen whales can be divided into three groups according to how they filter their food. The rorquals, such as humpback whales are gulpers.

They take in huge amounts of water with their prey, their pleated throats billowing out to accommodate it. They then force the water out, straining the food through the mesh of baleen. Right whales skim-feed. They cruise through the water with their enormous, arched mouths open, continuously filtering out prey. Gray whales are silt sifters. They pump water and sediment from the seafloor through one side of their mouths, across their baleen, and out the other. Baleen - a fantastic filter How does baleen work? Plates of it hang from the upper jaw of baleen whales. The inside edge of each plate has a hairy fringe. These fringes knit together to form a fibrous mat for straining prey from the water. Coarseness or fineness of baleen reveals what a whale feeds on. The fine baleen on display in the exhibition comes from a right whale, which feeds on zooplankton – near-microscopic animals. Gray whales have the coarsest baleen, as they filter sediment from the seafloor for crustaceans.

In the past, baleen has been called ‘whalebone’, even though it’s made of keratin, the same stuff your fingernails are made of. Manufacturers used whalebone to make various products requiring flexibility. Plastics replaced baleen in the 20th century. Three killer whales spy-hopping near Ross Ice Shelf, Antarctica. Photograph by Kim Westerskov, reproduced courtesy of Kim Westerskov Toothed whales Toothed whales either grab prey with their teeth or suck them directly into their mouths. These whales tend to eat individual animals, such as squid, fish, and, in some cases, other marine mammals. Killer whales, porpoises, and most dolphins grip prey between their jaws. They then work the meal into their mouth and swallow it. These social animals often hunt together. Sperm whales have an impressive set of teeth, but they don’t use them for feeding. They use suction, as do beaked whales and some dolphins. The whale zooms in on its prey until it’s close enough to suck the meal into its open mouth. Four killer whales in the Antarctic work together to flush their next meal – a seal – off an ice floe and into the water.

Reproduced courtesy of Dr Ingrid Visser, Orca Research Trust Top: Sperm whale, courtesy of Brandon Cole. Right: Orca fluke, photograph courtesy of Dr Ingrid Visser, Orca Research Trust How many types of whale are there? - WDC Tim Stenton SUBORDER MYSTICETI All modern mysticetes, comprising 4 families, are large whales with baleen instead of teeth. Baleen consists of long plates inside the mouth made of keratin which filters their prey. Keratin is the same substance found in human fingernails and hair. The exact means by which baleen is used differs among species (gulp-feeding with balaenopterids, skim-feeding with balaenids, and bottom-feeding with eschrichtiids). All of these whales have a double blowhole, a symmetrical skull and only one sternum bone. They can be found in all the world's oceans and can undertake some of the longest migrations known to man. Family Balaenidae Four species of right and bowhead whales make up this family. These are the ‘tanks’ of the whale kingdom.

Individuals can grow up to 20m and weigh as much as 90,000kg. With a robust and rotund body, no dorsal fin or ridge, and with a head that measures at least a third of its total body length, members of this whale family can look intimidating! They are, however, slow animals feeding passively by skim-feeding, aided by the longest baleen with the finest baleen sieves of all mysticetes. All species were once intensively whaled and, to date, have been slow to recover. Although two of the four species are listed as ‘Least Concern’, almost all the populations of all species in this family are listed as ‘Endangered’ or higher on the IUCN Red list. Subsistence whaling of bowhead whales is still practiced by Alaskan and Greenlandic aboriginal subsistence whalers. Eubalaena japonica (North Pacific right whale) Family Balaenopteridae Otherwise known as the ‘rorquals’, there are 8 species in this family, although the Bryde’s whale may soon be split into more than 1 species.

If balaenids are the ‘tanks’, then balaenopterids are the ‘sports cars’ of the whale kingdom; sleek, slender and incredibly hydrodynamic, these whales slip effortlessly through the water despite their immense size. All members of the family reach lengths of over 7m with a dorsal fin of varying shape and size. They are lunge-feeders and have long pleats extending from the snout to the navel enabling massive distention of the throat when they take in huge quantities of water before sifting out their food. The balaenopterids (or rorquals) can be distinguished from one another by the varying length, width and number of baleen plates, as well as overall size and pigmentation. Megaptera novaeangliae (Humpback whale) Family Eschrichtiidae There is only one species in this family, the gray whale. A stocky animal with a slightly arched jaw, they are another relatively slow-moving species, preferring shallow and coastal waters. Gray whales have the shortest (and coarsest) baleen of all mysticetes, possibly due to their preference for bottom-ploughing for food.

Only two populations of this species remain, an Atlantic population having been wiped out, perhaps partly due to early whaling (although the cause remain a mystery), by 1675 or possibly the early 18th century. The remaining populations are the ‘western North Pacific’ (or Asian) and ‘eastern North Pacific’. Both populations undergo annual migrations; the eastern population travels from the cold, food-rich North Pacific waters to the warmer breeding grounds of the lagoons of Baja California, Mexico, but little is known of the Asian populations’ route and winter breeding grounds. Eschrichtius robustus (Gray whale) Sub-Family Neobalaenopteridae This is another family with only one species; the pygmy right whale. As the name suggests, this is a relatively small whale, reaching 6.5m in length and a weight of 3,400kg. There is very little known of this species, with only a few living animals having been found on southern hemisphere shores. The remaining "whales" are toothed whales belonging to the ... SUBORDER ODONTOCETI Family Kogiidae This family contains two species, the dwarf and pygmy sperm whales.

Both occur off shore in deep water habitats and both are poorly known. They are far smaller than the sperm whale to which they only bear a slight resemblance. Kogia sima (Dwarf sperm whale) Family Monodontidae This family is known as the white whale group. It contains two species: the beluga and narwhal. Both are small and stocky with bulbous and blunt heads, rounded flippers and flukes and no dorsal fin. The single tooth of the narwhal, the so called tusk, is the longest of the odontocetes. Normally a male characteristic, the tusk is sometimes seen in females and sometimes there are two tusks erupting, with the second one typically shorter than the first. The cervical vertebrae of both species are not fused, allowing for a greater range of neck flexibility. Both species are restricted to the cold waters of the Arctic.

Monodon monoceros (Narwhal) Family Physeteridae This is a single species family containing the sperm whale or cachalot, the largest of the toothed whales and also the one that exhibits the highest degree of sexual dimorphism (the male grows up to 18 m long and has a huge head accounting for 2/5 of his body length; the female only grows to 12 m long. The teeth are only present on the narrow, underslung lower jaw and instead of a fin they have a low dorsal hump. Physeter macrocephalus (Sperm whale (Cachalot) Family Ziphiidae This family comprises 21 species of beaked whales. All are medium to large-sized animals, with the females typically larger than the males. With 3 exceptions (the two Berardius species and Tasmacetus) it is only the males that have 1 or 2 pairs of functional teeth on their lower jaw. The Ziphiidae contains the ocean’s most mysterious whales; in some cases only remnants of skulls or partial skeletons exist as evidence of living species at sea.

It is expected that future revisions of this family will occur as each and every sighting of these species increases our knowledge. Understanding Whale Teeth Home » Understanding Whale Teeth Understanding Whale Teeth Whales are mammals that live underwater. Like all mammals, they breathe air and they are born live from their mothers instead of coming from eggs. However, whales are also unusual mammals, and not only because they live underwater. They are also unusual because of the types of teeth they have (or lack). Most mammals have teeth to help them bite and chew their food, making it possible to feed themselves. Scientists group all whales into two categories: toothed whales and baleen whales. As the names suggest, one type of whale has teeth. The other type has something very different, called baleen, instead of teeth. Toothed Whales: How They Eat Toothed whales (or "odontocetes") are so named because of the teeth in their mouths. However, a whale's teeth look very different from human or even dog teeth, for that matter. Most toothed whales have cone-shaped teeth. A toothed whale also uses its teeth very differently than most other mammals. Usually, the whale doesn't use its teeth to chew. Instead, it often eats its food whole.

Some toothed whales, like the narwhal, only have a single tooth. Toothed whales with very few teeth often eat squid, which they can suck down whole, without any chewing at all. Whales | Basic Facts About Whales | Defenders of Wildlife Whales Basic Facts About Whales Whales belong to the order cetacea, which includes whales, dolphins and porpoises. Whales are divided into two suborders: baleen and toothed whales. Baleen whales have a comb-like fringe, called a baleen, on the upper jaw, which is used to filter plankton, as well as small fish and crustaceans. They are the largest species of whale. Toothed whales have teeth and prey on fish, squid, other whales and marine mammals. They sense their surrounding environment through echolocation. Like all mammals, whales breathe air into lungs, are warm-blooded, feed their young milk and have some (although very little) hair. Their bodies resemble the streamlined form of a fish, while the forelimbs or flippers are paddle-shaped. The tail fins, or flukes, enable whales to propel themselves through the water.

Most species of whale have a fin on their backs known as a dorsal fin. Did You Know? Whales are mammals, and as such, they have hair—though very little of it! Beneath the skin lies a layer of fat called blubber. It serves as an energy reservoir and also as insulation. Whales breathe through blowholes, located on the top of the head so the animal can remain submerged. Baleen whales have two blowholes,while toothed whales have one. Diet The diet of whales depends on their species; it can range from microscopic plankton to large marine mammals. Population Whales live in all of the world's oceans, though their specific range varies by species. Behavior Many whales, especially baleen whales, tend to migrate long distances from their cold-water feeding grounds to warm-water breeding grounds each year. They travel alone or in groups, or pods, on their annual migrations. Toothed whales often hunt in groups, migrate together and share young-rearing duties. Did You Know? The Blue Whale is the largest known mammal that has ever lived, and the largest living animal, at up to 110 feet long and 150 tons. Most whales are quite active in the water.

They jump high, or breach, out of the water and land back in the water. They also thrust their tails out of the water and slap the water's surface, which is believed to be a warning of danger nearby. Whales also communicate with each other using lyrical sounds. These sounds are extremely loud depending on the species and can be heard for many miles. Because of their environment (and unlike many animals) and because they need to breathe air by coming to the water's surface, whales are conscious breathers, meaning they decide when to breathe. All mammals sleep, including whales, but they cannot afford to fall into an unconscious state for too long, since they need to be conscious to break the surface in order to breathe Reproduction Mating season: Varies depending on the species. Gestation: 9-15 months, depending on the species. Number of offspring: 1 calf. Nursing time is long (more than one year for many species), which is associated with a strong bond between mother and young. This strategy of reproduction spawns few offspring, but provides each with a high probability of survival in the wild.

Threats to Whales The effects of climate change will be felt by most marine creatures, and whales are certainly not excluded. Sea level rise and changes in sea temperature will leave whales quite vulnerable, and they may not be able to adapt quickly enough to survive. Arctic and antarctic whale habitat faces a particular threat from climate change. Whale food sources will also face challenges, such as a decline in krill population, which is the main food source for many large whale species. What Defenders Is Doing to Help Whales Defenders is currently hard a work on behalf of two highly endangered North American whale species. Learn more about our efforts to save the Cook Inlet beluga whale and the North Atlantic right whale . Whaling is one of the biggest threats to whales. By the middle of the 20th century, whaling had left many populations severely depleted. The International Whaling Commission introduced a moratorium which continues to this day. However, there are still some exceptions to this moratorium. This allows countries like Norway, Iceland and Japan and the aboriginal communities of Siberia, Alaska and northern Canada to continue their annual whale hunts. In addition, several species of small whales are caught as bycatch in fisheries for other species.

Exposure to contaminants and pollution also threaten whales. Scientists also believe that underwater sonar testing by the navies of various countries leads to whale beachings. Mass whale beachings occur in many species, mostly beaked whales that use echolocation systems for deep diving. Whales are also threatened by climate change because higher water temperatures in the Antarctic Ocean are reducing populations of krill, a small-shrimp-like crustacean that is the main food source for some whale species. Get More Information Differences Between Baleen and Toothed Whales Differences Between Baleen and Toothed Whales Differences Between Baleen and Toothed Whales Characteristics of the Two Major Whale Groups Atlantic White-sided Dolphin (Lagenorhynchus acutus). Blue Ocean Society By Jennifer Kennedy Updated August 29, 2016. There are over 80 recognized species of cetaceans , and these species are divided into two main groups: the baleen whales and the toothed whales . While they are all considered whales, there are some important differences between the two types. Baleen whales... Are generally larger than toothed whales. The largest animal in the world, the blue whale , is a baleen whale.

Feed on smaller fish and plankton with a filtering system made up of hundreds of baleen plates . Tend to be solitary, although they occasionally gather in groups to feed or to travel. Have two blowholes on top of their head, one right next to the other. Female baleen whales are also larger than males of the same species. Examples of baleen whales include the blue whale , fin whale , and humpback whale . Toothed whales... Are generally smaller than baleen whales, although there are some exceptions (e.g., the sperm whale and Baird's beaked whale). The toothed whales include all species of dolphins and porpoises. continue reading below our video What are the Seven Wonders of the World Are active predators and have teeth that they use to catch their prey and swallow it whole. The prey varies depending on species, but can include fish, seals, sea lions or even other whales. Have a much stronger social structure than baleen whales, often gathering in pods with a stable social structure. Have one blowhole on top of their head. Unlike baleen whales, males of toothed whales species are usually larger than females. Toothed or baleen?

| ASCOBANS Kids Toothed or baleen? Toothed whales ( Odontocetes ) The name ‘toothed whales’ can be a little misleading, because dolphins and porpoises also belong to this group. It does not only describe the big creatures that come to your mind when you think of whales, but also their smaller relatives. The most important trait of toothed whales is what gives them their name: they have teeth. This is the easiest difference to spot between baleen and toothed whales. In almost all toothed whale species, their teeth are cone-shaped and not used for chewing (the exception are Amazon River dolphins; they have two different types of teeth in their mouths). They hunt and catch one prey animal at a time, such as fish, squid, seals, sea lions and even birds. Their prey is then swallowed whole, if it is not too big, or bitten into pieces small enough to swallow. Some toothed whales barely have any teeth because they feed only on squid, which they simply suck into their mouths. Narwhals tusking with each other © Glenn Williams/Wikimedia Commons The male narwhal has a long tusk protruding from its upper jaw.

The tusk is actually a modified tooth. There is much debate about what narwhals use their tusks for, but it may be used in competition for females and it can grow to 2-3m long and weigh up to 10kg. Toothed whales are able to echolocate, which they use to hunt and swim in dark waters. Echolocation is a very precise way of sensing the environment. The animal sends out a stream of sounds (such as the dolphins’ “clicks”), which bounce off any objects nearby and return through the water. From the sounds received, the animal can tell the size, position and distance of an object. Dolphins can even tell the difference between different objects (a dolphin can tell the difference between a table tennis ball and a golf ball because of their different densities) and “see” the surface of things. Toothed whales are specialized for hunting agile prey like fish even though they might not be able to see them. Toothed whales range greatly in size. The smallest are the Vaquita and Hector’s dolphins. The vaquita lives in the Gulf of California and reaches sizes of 1.2-1.5m (4-5ft).

It is highly endangered, and there are only about 100-300 of them left in the world. Hector’s dolphins live only in New Zealand and measure about 1.4m, they are also endangered, especially their relatives the Maui’s dolphins, of which there are only 80 animals left. The biggest Odontocete is the Sperm Whale, which can reach almost 20m in length (65ft). The Dall’s porpoise is one of the fastest of all the toothed whales © GregTheBusker/Wikimedia Commons Toothed whales populate all oceans of the world, and some also live in rivers. Mostly they are social animals. Some dolphin species, including orcas, form close groups or pods that can get as big as 1000 animals. Toothed whales are also rapid swimmers. Dall’s Porpoises and orcas are both incredibly fast, reaching speeds of 55kph-56kph Do you want to learn more about toothed whales? Check out our Species Guide ! Baleen whales ( Mysticetes ) This group of whales has the scientific name Mysticetes.

The word comes from the Greek word meaning moustache, because the inner edge of the baleen looks like a moustache. These whales don’t have any teeth but instead they have baleen (which is also known as “whalebone”). Baleen is made of keratin, like our fingernails and hair. It continues to grow as long as the whale lives, because it wears down at its tips so it needs to be replaced. The color of baleen ranges from black to yellow or white, depending on the species of whale. Bowhead whales have the longest baleen; it can be up to 5m (16ft) long. Baleen acts like a sieve, filtering plankton or small fish out of the water so that the whale can eat them. This is Antarctic Krill, eaten by a lot of whales © Uwe Kils/Wikimedia Commons Baleen whales are some of the largest of all the whale species; the smallest species (the pygmy right whale) still reaches 6m (19ft) long. With a length of around 30m (98ft), the blue whale is the biggest creature ever to have lived on this planet!

As you can probably imagine, they need to eat plenty to survive—the equivalent of you eating 300 chocolate bars every day! But blue whales obviously don’t eat chocolate; they prefer a diet of krill (small shrimp-like creatures). They consume about 40 million krill every day—that’s about the weight of a female African elephant. During feeding times, baleen whales can come together and sometimes cooperate to catch prey, but otherwise they are often found alone. While all baleen whales filter their food out of the water, there use a number of different feeding techniques: there are skimmers, gulpers and suckers. The folds of skin that a humpback whale has on his throat allow his mouth to stretch amazingly wide, which means it can catch large amounts of prey all at the same time © American Cetacean Society During mating and feeding seasons some species briefly form groups; however, mothers and calves have a particularly close bond. Unlike many other mammals, female baleen whales are bigger than males, maybe because they have to care for their calves while migrating long distances. Whale pregnancies last for 10 to 16 months. They seldom have more than one baby at a time.

When the calf is born, other females help to protect the mother and her calf. These whales cooperate to feed © Wikimedia Commons A baleen whale baby has to keep up with his or her mother from the very first day of birth, but won’t leave her for about a year. The mother whale will nurse her baby with very fatty milk for about a year, as well as teaching it to feed and protecting it from predators. Still, a newborn blue whale doesn’t have to fear much: it already measures 7m (23ft) at birth and weighs 2,000kg—the weight of an average car. This site is maintained by the UNEP/ASCOBANS Secretariat © 2014 Content developed in collaboration with WDC UNEP/ASCOBANS Secretariat, Platz der Vereinten Nationen 1, 53113 Bonn, Germany Tel: +49 228 815 2416, E-mail: ascobans@ascobans.org Privacy Policy - Acknowledgements Cetaceans Dolphin. Photo by Susan Middleton, © 2003 California Academy of Sciences.

The Cetacea are one of the most distinctive and highly specialized orders of mammals . They include the largest animal that has ever lived, the blue whale; the highly intelligent and communicative dolphins; the tusked narwhals and blind river dolphins and singing humpback whales  nearly eighty living species in all. Although hunting and other human activities have endangered most cetacean species, the outlook for many is improving. Whales are highly specialized for life in the water. Most species are marine, but dolphin species are found in the Yangtze, Amazon, Paraná, Indus and Ganges Rivers. Whales have streamlike bodies with highly compressed neck vertebrae, dorsal fins, and a tail with two finlike flukes arranged horizontally. Modern whales have greatly elongated anterior skull bones, and the nostrils are located on the top of the head, forming the blowhole. The forelimbs are specialized to form flippers, and the hind limbs and pelvis are extremely small and do not normally extend out of the body wall of the animal. Modern whales may be divided into two subgroups: the Odontoceti (toothed whales) and the Mysticeti (baleen whales).

Odontocetes bear teeth  typically numerous and peglike, although sometimes modified, as in the single tusk of the narwhal or the odd, fanglike lower teeth of the beaked whales. Many odontocetes can navigate by echolocation, producing sound waves using a complex system of nasal sacs and passages, and using the echoes to navigate. Dolphins and porpoises are examples of odontocetes, as are belugas, narwhals, killer whales, sperm whales, and beaked whales. Baleen whales lack teeth completely as adults (although teeth are present in fetal baleen whales). They feed by straining small marine organisms out of the water using plates of baleen, a hornlike substance that forms filaments that hang down from the roof of the mouth. Blue, right, humpback, minke, gray, and fin whales are well-known examples of baleen whales. Some baleen whales, most famously the humpack whales, are known for the strange and complex songs they produce; their function is not clear, but unlike toothed whales, baleen whales do not use their songs for echolocation.

The fossil record of whales is rich, and recent discoveries have shed much light on the origin of the Cetacea. Archaeocetes: The Oldest Whales The oldest fossil whales are often grouped together, largely for convenience, in a taxon known as the archaeocetes. Archaeocetes show several features that modern whales lack. Their teeth, like those of most land mammals, still show differentiation into several types. (Modern whales either lack teeth, or have teeth that are all virtually identical in shape and size). Archaeocetes also had nostrils near the tip of the nose, like land mammals, rather than a blowhole on the top of the head. Some retained substantial hind limbs that would have been visible outside the animal's body; in the earliest archaeocetes, these limbs and the pelvis were attached to the vertebrae by a sacral joint, but in later ones the limbs and pelvis were not attached to the rest of the skeleton. Pakicetus (right) is a Middle Eocene archaeocete from the Kuldana Formation of Pakistan; it is currently the earliest known well-preserved cetacean, and the archaeocete features are clearly visible in this replica skull from UCMP's collections.

Pakicetus is so far known only from its skull, but recent finds in Pakistan have produced other whale species that show very primitive characters in both the skull and the rest of the skeleton. These animals had relatively well developed limbs, but were aquatic. Rodhocetus, a recently discovered archaeocete from Pakistan, was a few million years younger than Packicetus. Rodhocetus had well-developed hind limbs (although only the thighbone, or femur, has been preserved), but unlike land mammals, Rodhocetus did not have its vertebrae in the pelvic region fused together into a sacrum. Early whales such as Rodhocetus show many similarities with an early group of land mammals known as mesonychids, which are also close to the root of the hoofed mammals. In fact, some fossil teeth that were once identified as mesonychids are now known to have come from archaeocetes. By the late Eocene, archaeocete whales had spread to many parts of the world. Zygorhiza is fairly common in the Gulf Coastal region of the southeastern United States.

Although the body is very whale-like (though somewhat less compact than a modern whale), Zygorhiza shows differentiated teeth and nostrils near the end of the nose. Basilosaurus. Photo © Mark Uhen, Cranbrook Institute of Science. Basilosaurus (right) is another Eocene archaeocete from the Gulf Coast, with a rather unfortunate name: Dr. Richard Harlan, the 19th-century American physician who described and named it, believed it to be a giant reptile, and in 1843 named it "king lizard": Basilosaurus in Greek. Scientists who later examined Basilosaurus, notably Richard Owen , realized the error. Owen renamed the fossil Zeuglodon, meaning "yoked tooth"  a more appropriate description of the double-rooted molars of this animal. However, under the rules that govern naming species, the earliest name for a species has priority, even if that name is not an accurate description. Its name aside, Basilosaurus (skull at left) is significant because it is known to have retained small but well-developed hind limbs that projected from the body, although there was no joint between the pelvic bones and the vertebrae.

Living whales retain only tiny splint-like bones as remnants of the pelvis and hind limbs. Basilosaurus has been found in Eocene rocks of the southeastern United States, notably in Alabama, Mississippi, and Louisiana  in fact it is the state fossil of Alabama, and the "state co-fossil" of Mississippi along with Zygorhiza. Basilosaurus has also been found in Eocene rocks of Australia and Egypt. The Rise of Modern Whales By the late Oligocene , the two modern lineages of cetaceans had evolved from archaeocete ancestors. Interestingly, the late Oligocene whale Aetiocetus, from Oregon, has skull and jaw features typical of baleen whales, and is considered to be the earliest mysticete  yet it also bore a full set of teeth. By the Miocene , whales of both lineages are relatively common fossils in many marine deposits. A number of modern-day families of both toothed and baleen whales are known to have evolved by the late Miocene.

These include the baleen whale families Balaenopteridae (rorqual whales, including the blue whale) and Balaenidae (right whales), and the toothed whale families Delphinidae (dolphins and killer whales), Physeteridae (sperm whales), Monodontidae (belugas and narwhals), Phocaenidae (porpoises), and Ziphiidae (beaked whales). Shown at right is the partial skull of a porpoise from the Miocene-age Monterey Formation , exposed at Duxbury Reef in Marin County, northern California. Researcher J.G.M. Thewissen has an excellent set of pages on the origin of whales, and fellow researcher Mark Uhen maintains another fine page on early whale fossils and evolution . Primitive Eocene Whales has information on archaeocetes from the southeastern United States. There is also a brief exhibit on fossil whales at the University of Oslo. Paleontologists might also visit the special exhibit on "Charlotte" , a late Pleistocene fossil beluga whale from Vermont.

For more information on living whales and where to see them, visit the Whale Watching Virtual Library , the Whale Conservation Institute , or the Cetacean Society International . An extensive species-by-species listing of WWW resources on whales and other marine mammals is also available as part of the Protected Marine Species project. And check out the work of UCMP scientists Healy Hamilton and Allen Collins on the evolution of river dolphins . Sources: Carroll, R.L. 1996. Patterns and Processes of Vertebrate Evolution. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge. Feldhamer, G.A., L.C. Drickamer, S.H. Vessey, and J.F. Merritt. 1999. Mammalogy: Adaptation, Diversity, and Ecology. McGraw-Hill, Boston. Gingerich, P.D., S.M. Raza, M. Arif, M. Anwar, and X. Zhou. 1994. New whale from the Eocene of Pakistan and the origin of cetacean swimming. Nature 368:844847. Slijper, E.J. 1979. Whales. 2nd ed.

Cornell University Press, Ithaca, New York. Whale - Animals Town Whale Size: 50 ft (15.25 m) Weight: 70 tons (63.5 m tons) Group name: Pod Protection status: Endangered What does a whale look like? Whales can be divided into two groups — baleen and toothed. Baleen whales, like the humpback, blue, minke and right, take large amounts of water into their huge mouths and sift out plankton through 130 to 140 baleen plates located on each side of the upper jaw. Toothed whales have simple conical teeth within a beak-like mouth as seen in the dolphin. This group mainly feeds on fish. Whale video. Where do whales live? Whales live in the North Atlantic and North Pacific Oceans. They migrate to warmer waters in the winter months. It takes them about three months to reach their new homes near Bermuda or the Hawaiian Islands. What does a whale eat? The whale is the top predator in the ocean. It eats animals, which makes them a carnivore.The whale eats marine mammals and seabirds.

They also eat a variety of fish such as salmon, cod, flatfish, hake, herring, and smelt. They also eat other kinds of whales. They also eat seals, sea lions, walruses, and occasionally sea otters and penguins. Lastly, they even eat squid, octopus and smaller sea creatures. Did you know this about whales? Capble of growing to around 100 feet in length and 180 tons in weight, the blue whale is the largest animal that has ever lived. It's even bigger than any known dinosaur. The hippopotamus is the whale's closest living land-dwelling relative. They share a common ancestor that lived 54 million years ago. Whales entered the water around 50 million years ago. Whales don't have outer ears. Instead, they receive sound through their lower jaw. The sound is conducted from the jaw through a fat-filled cavity to the middle and inner ears. Move over tortoises! The bowhead whale was recently proven to be the longest-lived animal on earth. A male with a 19th century harpoon fragment in its flesh was shown to be 211 years old.

Whale images Download free Whale wallpapers, click on the image to open the large version. Whale wallpaper 1 Print free Whale coloring pages, click on the image to open the large version. Whale coloring page Whale Biology Whale Biology Whale Biology Whale Diversity Using terms such as "whales," "dolphins," and "porpoises" can be misleading when people want a clear picture of how whales are related. The killer whale, for example, is actually the largest dolphin! Scientists need to be accurate and consistent in their descriptions. That is why they use specific characteristics to classify life forms such as whales into related groups. This practice is known as taxonomy. It’s an essential tool in gaining a systematic picture of living things. Common dolphin © Dr. Ingrid Visser, Orca Research Trust What’s the difference? Whales: People often use the term "whale" to refer to the large animals in the group. These can be both baleen whales (the filter feeders) and toothed whales (which hunt single prey). Dolphins: Dolphins usually have a beak and always have conical teeth that taper to a fine point. Porpoises: Porpoises have no beak.

Their teeth are flat and spade-shaped. Mammalian Features Sperm whale. © Brandon Cole Whales are mammals and have many of the features and systems of mammal anatomy. For example, whales breathe with lungs, and females nurse their young on milk. But whales differ significantly from almost all other mammals—a result of their move from land to sea millions of years ago. Whales evolved a streamlined shape, they lost their external hind limbs, and their forelimbs became flippers. Their nostrils became blowholes. Their lungs and circulatory system adapted to spending extended periods underwater. From these changes came the remarkable, fully aquatic lives of whales. Feeding Whale feeding case. © Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa, 2008 Whales can be divided into two types by their ancestry and the way they feed—baleen whales (Mysticeti or Mysticetes) and toothed whales (Odontoceti or Odontocetes). Baleen whales, a group that includes blue whales, are "batch feeders"—they use their plates of baleen to filter huge numbers of tiny prey out of the water. Toothed whales such as sperm whales hunt their prey one by one.

They use echolocation to find it and usually swallow it whole. Navigating and Communicating The ability to produce and perceive sound is important for whales—to navigate, find food, and communicate. Toothed whales can use echolocation to hunt their prey. They send out high frequency clicks then listen for their echo as they bounce back from objects—like the next meal! Baleen whales use low frequency sound to communicate, sometimes over considerable distances. Recent research suggests that they do this with their larynx—the ‘voice box’ in land mammals. Some baleen whales, such as male humpbacks, produce extremely complex ‘songs’. Echolocation diagram: How a sperm whale produces and receives sound © Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa, 2007

Question: Whales can be divided into two types Toothed and what?
Answer: Baleen