Balaenoptera musculus
species of marine mammal, largest living animal in the world
AI overview
The blue whale (Balaenoptera musculus) is the largest living animal on Earth, a marine mammal that can grow to enormous sizes in the ocean. Because of its massive size and presence in marine ecosystems, it serves as an important indicator of ocean health and has been a focus of wildlife conservation efforts.
AI-generated from the Wikipedia summary — may contain errors.
Species
Endangeredblue rorqual
SPECIES
- KingdomAnimalia
- PhylumChordata
- ClassMammalia
- OrderCetacea
- FamilyBalaenopteridae
Habitatmarine
Maximum longevity: 110 years (wild) Observations: The blue whale is the largest animal on earth. Its gestation period is short when considering its size. One possible explanation is that longer gestation periods would mean that the young would be born in the season spent in the season spent in cold waters (Ronald Nowak 1999). It is estimated that these animals live over 100 years.
via GBIF · IUCN
Wikidata facts
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Article
The blue whale (Balaenoptera musculus) is a species of baleen whale and the largest marine mammal in the rorqual family Balaenopteridae. Reaching a maximum confirmed length of 29.9–30.5 m (98–100 ft) and weighing up to 190–200 t (190–200 long tons; 210–220 short tons), it is the largest animal known to have ever existed. The blue whale's long and slender body can be of various shades of greyish-blue on its upper surface and somewhat lighter underneath. Four subspecies are recognized: B. m. musculus in the North Atlantic and North Pacific, B. m. intermedia in the Southern Ocean, B. m. brevicauda (the pygmy blue whale) in the Indian Ocean and South Pacific Ocean, and B. m. indica in the Northern Indian Ocean. There is a population in the waters off Chile that may constitute a fifth subspecies.
In general, blue whale populations migrate between their summer feeding areas near the poles and their winter breeding grounds near the tropics. There is also evidence of year-round residencies, and partial or age- and sex-based migration. Blue whales are filter feeders; their diet consists almost exclusively of krill. They are generally solitary or gather in small groups, and have no well-defined social structure other than mother–calf bonds. Blue whales vocalize, with a fundamental frequency ranging from 8 to 25 Hz; their vocalizations may vary by region, season, behavior, and time of day.
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Animal taxa named by Carl LinnaeusBalaenopteraBiological recordsBlue whalesConservation-reliant speciesCosmopolitan mammalsESA endangered speciesFauna listed on CITES Appendix IIUCN Red List endangered speciesMammals described in 1758Species that are or were threatened by collisions with vehiclesSpoken articles