Ziphiidae | About The Family Of Beaked Whales

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Ziphiidae | About The Family Of Beaked Whales

ZIPHIIDAE – In this topic, we are going to know and learn about a family of cetaceans known as Ziphiidae , the beaked whales.

ZIPHIIDAE
Image from: CNN

As mentioned above, they are a group of cetaceans that are known to be the least known groups of mammals due to their deep-sea habitat and apparent low abundance.

Beaked Whales are usually moderate in size. It is named for the presence of a ‘beak’, which is its key distinguishing feature. Other features of this cetacean family include a pair of converging grooves under the throat, and the absence of a notch in the tail fluke.

The whale has one or two pairs of teeth, with the exception for Shepherd’s beaked whale (Tasmacetus shepherdi). This is siad to be one of the unique features of the whale family. The teeth are tusk-like and are usually visible in males. Its use is presumably for combat for females.

There are about 22 species of small whales in this family, as of the moment.

Examples

Here are some examples of this species under this family:

  1. Arnoux’s beaked whale | Berardius arnuxii
  2. Baird’s beaked whale | Berardius bairdii
  3. northern bottlenose whale | Hyperoodon ampullatus
  4. southern bottlenose whale | Hyperoodon planifrons
  5. Longman’s beaked whale | Indopacetus pacificus
  6. Sowerby’s beaked whale | Mesoplodon bidens
  7. Andrews’ beaked whale | Mesoplodon bowdoini
  8. Hubbs’ beaked whale | Mesoplodon carlhubbsi
  9. Blainville’s beaked whale | Mesoplodon densirostris
  10. Gervais’ beaked whale | Mesoplodon europaeus
  11. ginkgo-toothed beaked whale | Mesoplodon ginkgodens
  12. Gray’s beaked whale | Mesoplodon grayi
  13. Hector’s beaked whale | Mesoplodon hectori
  14. strap-toothed whale | Mesoplodon layardii
  15. True’s beaked whale | Mesoplodon mirus
  16. pygmy beaked whale | Mesoplodon peruvianus
  17. Perrin’s beaked whale | Mesoplodon perrini
  18. Stejneger’s beaked whale | Mesoplodon stejnegeri
  19. spade-toothed whale | Mesoplodon traversii
  20. Deraniyagala’s beaked whale | Mesoplodon hotaula
  21. Shepherd’s beaked whale | Tasmacetus shepherdi
  22. Cuvier’s beaked whale | Ziphius cavirostris

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