Beaked whales
Order : Cetacea
Suborder : Odontoceti
Family : Ziphiidae
Genus : Mesoplodon
Animals in the genus Mesoplodon |
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| Hector's beaked whale |
Facts about the genus Mesoplodon, the beaked whales
The integration time for the auditory system of Mesoplodon is unknown, so the best available figure is the echo duration, T, of 250 to 320 µs, which is close to the measured integration time of 263 µs for the bottlenose dolphin (Au et al. (Full text)
"Mesoplodon" is Greek for "armed with a tooth in the middle of the jaw, and indeed these whales only have one pair of fully developed teeth in the lower jaw.
The word Mesoplodon is from the Greek mesos for "middle", hopla for "arms" and odon for "tooth".
Name : Layard's Beaked WhaleScientific Name : Mesoplodon layardiiClass : MammaliaFamily : ZiphiidaeOrder : CetaceaShape : The largest member of the genus Mesoplodon, is a relative slender animal with a distinct forehead and a long, slender beak.
Mesoplodon is the genus name of a group of deep-diving "Ziphiids," or beaked whales. (Full text)
An interesting fact about beaked whales is the meanings behind their Latin scientific names.
“Studying beaked whales is like observing living dinosaurs,†says Ken Balcomb of the Bahamas Marine Mammal Survey (BMMS). (Full text)
What is so incredible about the Unidentified Beaked Whales is that in all of our research we can only find 30 other reported sightings, and yet we have now seen them twice.
Characteristics The most remarkable feature of beaked whales is the teeth of the males: their
Discovering Whales - The Beaked Whales The Superfamily Ziphioidea - Family Ziphiidae Beaked Whales The beaked whales are medium-sized whales with a distinct beak extending from the skull in all but the Gray's and Shepherd's beaked whales which have extra rows of tiny teeth erupting in both sexes. (Full text)
Beaked whales are notoriously difficult to identify.
Discovering Whales - Baird's Beaked Whale Baird's Beaked Whale (Berardius bairdii) Beaked whales are the least known of all cetaceans. (Full text)
Bairds Beaked Whale Beaked whales are the least known of all cetaceans.
Baird's Beaked Whales are easily distinguishable from the Bottlenose Whales as the latter have a smaller and less pronounced beak, and a more prominant dorsal.
Baird's Beaked Whales are found annually in Monterey Bay, usually in summer and fall. (Full text)
By Susan Scott Beaked whales are around but they keep a low profile (Full text)
Beaked whales are found in all the world oceans, yet are rarely every seen (Nowak and Paradiso, 1983).
