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Monodontidae
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The cetacean family Monodontidae comprises two living whale species, the narwhal and the beluga whale and at least four extinct species, known from the fossil record. Beluga and narwhal are native to coastal regions and pack ice around the Arctic Ocean. Both species are relatively small whales, in length, with a forehead melon, and a short or absent snout. Premaxillary teeth are absent. They do not have a true dorsal fin, but do have a narrow ridge running along the back, which is much more pronounced in the narwhal. They are highly vocal animals, communicating with a wide range of sounds. Lik
OverviewAI-generated
Monodontidae is a family of mammals within the order Cetartiodactyla. It belongs to the class Mammalia and the phylum Chordata. The family was described by Gray in 1821 and is currently accepted as a valid taxon. Its common name is narhvalfamilien.
The family is classified under the kingdom Animalia. While GBIF lists the order as Cetacea, WoRMS identifies it as Cetartiodactyla. The habitat includes marine, brackish, and freshwater environments.
Records for this family are held by institutions including SDNHM, USNM, and UCMP. These records are located in the United States and Mexico. The taxon has 14,667 occurrences and 32 records in iDigBio. It is referenced by 342 other encyclopedia articles.
Synthesized by Vinony from 27 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
narhvalfamilien
Monodontidae
FAMILY
- KingdomAnimalia
- PhylumChordata
- ClassMammalia
- OrderCetacea
- FamilyMonodontidae
via GBIF
Museum specimens
- Specimen records
- 32
- Family
- Monodontidae
- Collections
- SDNHM, USNM, UCMP
- Recorded in
- United States, Mexico
~2 min read
Encyclopedic overview
3 sectionsContents
- Taxonomy
- References
- External links
The cetacean family Monodontidae comprises two living whale species, the narwhal and the beluga whale and at least four extinct species, known from the fossil record. Beluga and narwhal are native to coastal regions and pack ice around the Arctic Ocean. Both species are relatively small whales, in length, with a forehead melon, and a short or absent snout. Premaxillary teeth are absent. They do not have a true dorsal fin, but do have a narrow ridge running along the back, which is much more pronounced in the narwhal. They are highly vocal animals, communicating with a wide range of sounds. Like other whales, they also use echolocation to navigate. Belugas can be found in the far north of the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans; the distribution of narwhals is restricted to the Arctic and Atlantic Oceans.
Monodontids have a wide-ranging carnivorous diet, feeding on fish, molluscs, and small crustaceans. They have reduced teeth, with the beluga having numerous simple teeth, and the narwhal having only two teeth, one of which forms the tusks in males. Gestation lasts 14–15 months in both species, and almost always results in a single calf. The young are not weaned for a full two years, and do not reach sexual maturity until they are five to eight years of age. Family groups travel as part of herds, or 'pods', which may contain several hundred individuals.
Excerpted from Wikipedia’s “Monodontidae” article, available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.