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Balaenopteridae

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Balaenopteridae

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Also known as Rorquals, rorqual family

Rorquals () are the largest group of baleen whales, comprising the family Balaenopteridae, which contains nine extant species in two genera. They include the largest animal ever known to have lived, the blue whale, which can reach , and the fin whale, which reaches ; even the smallest of the group, the northern minke whale, reaches .

OverviewAI-generated

Balaenopteridae is a family of marine mammals within the order Cetacea, class Mammalia, and phylum Chordata. The taxon, commonly known as rorquals, has been described in sources including the Brockhaus and Efron Encyclopedic Dictionary and the Encyclopædia Britannica 11th edition. It is also referred to by the common names finnhvalfamilien and brazdasti kiti.

The family was established by Gray in 1864 and is currently accepted as a valid taxonomic group. Its origins date back to about 16 million years ago. While some records indicate an association with the order Cetartiodactyla, the primary classification places it under Cetacea.

Records for this family are held by institutions such as the USNM, with occurrences documented in the United States. The taxon is referenced by 549 other encyclopedia articles.

Synthesized by Vinony from 33 facts across 6 sources: Wikidata, GBIF, Gbif Occ, WoRMS, iDigBio, Vinony graph. Generated from structured data (not the Wikipedia text) and checked against those facts — may still contain errors.

Species

rorquals

Balaenopteridae

FAMILY

  1. KingdomAnimalia
  2. PhylumChordata
  3. ClassMammalia
  4. OrderCetacea
  5. FamilyBalaenopteridae
Habitatmarine
Observations recorded1,153,140

via GBIF

Museum specimens

Specimen records
502
With media
13
Family
Balaenopteridae
Collections
USNM
Recorded in
United States
iDigBio →

Wikidata facts

Instance of
taxon
Image
Humpback Whale underwater shot.jpg
Show 7 more facts
Commons category
Balaenopteridae
taxon rank
family
taxon name
Balaenopteridae
topic's main category
Category:Balaenopteridae
described by source
Encyclopædia Britannica 11th edition
start time
15970000-0
taxon common name
brazdasti kiti
Sources (1)

via Wikidata · CC0

~8 min read

Encyclopedic overview

11 sections
Contents
  • Characteristics
  • Distribution and habitat
  • Feeding habits
  • Taxonomy
  • Extant species
  • Fossil genera
  • Alternative generic taxonomy for living rorquals
  • References
  • Notes
  • Sources
  • External links

Rorquals () are the largest group of baleen whales, comprising the family Balaenopteridae, which contains nine extant species in two genera. They include the largest animal ever known to have lived, the blue whale, which can reach , and the fin whale, which reaches ; even the smallest of the group, the northern minke whale, reaches .

Rorquals take their name from French , which derives from the Norwegian word : the first element originated from the Old Norse name for this type of whale, , probably related to the Norse word for "red", and the second from the Norse word hvalr meaning "whale" in general. The family name Balaenopteridae is from the type genus, Balaenoptera.

Excerpted from Wikipedia’s “Balaenopteridae” article, available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.

Gallery (17)

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