File:Mother_and_baby_sperm_whale.jpg · Wikimedia Commons · See Wikimedia Commons
sperm whale
Sign in to saveAlso known as cachalot, Physeter macrocephalus, spermaceti whale
largest species of toothed whale
OverviewAI-generated
The sperm whale (*Physeter macrocephalus*) is a species of whale within the family Physeteridae, order Cetartiodactyla, and class Mammalia. Described by Linnaeus in 1758, the taxon is named after spermaceti, a substance it produces alongside ambergris. Its common names include Sperm Whale, Ballena Esperma, Cachalote, and chocolate whale. The species is diurnal, has a gestation period of 15 months, and primarily feeds on Teuthida.
The sperm whale inhabits marine environments and is listed as Vulnerable by the IUCN. It is included in Appendix I of CITES. The lineage began about 4 million years ago. While its range includes Brazil and Bragança, records also note Chile Central. The taxon is the subject of 1,708 PubMed articles and 3,804 iNaturalist observations.
Synthesized by Vinony from 41 facts across 6 sources: Wikidata, PubMed, iNaturalist, WoRMS, Encyclopedia of Life, Vinony graph. Generated from structured data (not the Wikipedia text) and checked against those facts — may still contain errors.
Species
chocolate whale
Species
- PhylumChordata
- ClassMammalia
- OrderCetartiodactyla
- FamilyPhyseteridae
Chile Central
via
Research
1,708 papers- Sperm whale clans and human societies.ReviewRoyal Society open science · 2024Whitehead HDOI: 10.1098/rsos.231353
- Plastination of a sperm whale.Journal of anatomy · 2022Jiang WB, Han J, Ma XW et al.DOI: 10.1111/joa.13581
- Contextual and combinatorial structure in sperm whale vocalisations.Nature communications · 2024Sharma P, Gero S, Payne R et al.DOI: 10.1038/s41467-024-47221-8
- Integrating cultural dimensions in sperm whale (Physeter macrocephalus) conservation: threats, challenges and solutions.ReviewPhilosophical transactions of the Royal Society of London. Series B, Biological sciences · 2025Eguiguren A, Avila I, Mesnick S et al.DOI: 10.1098/rstb.2024.0142
- Sperm and northern bottlenose whale interactions with deep-water trawlers in the western North Atlantic.PloS one · 2023Oyarbide U, Feyrer LJ, Gordon JDOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0289626
- Sperm whale demographics in the Gulf of Alaska and Bering Sea/Aleutian Islands: An overlooked female habitat.PloS one · 2024Posdaljian N, Solsona-Berga A, Hildebrand JA et al.DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0285068
- Evidence from sperm whale clans of symbolic marking in non-human cultures.Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America · 2022Hersh TA, Gero S, Rendell L et al.DOI: 10.1073/pnas.2201692119
- Sperm whale acoustic abundance and dive behaviour in the western North Atlantic.Scientific reports · 2022Westell A, Sakai T, Valtierra R et al.DOI: 10.1038/s41598-022-20868-3
via PubMed
~40 min read
Encyclopedic overview
The sperm whale or cachalot (Physeter macrocephalus) is the largest of the toothed whales and the largest toothed predator. It is the only living member of the genus Physeter and one of three extant species in the sperm whale superfamily Physeteroidea, along with the pygmy sperm whale and dwarf sperm whale of the genus Kogia.
The sperm whale is a pelagic mammal with a worldwide range, and will migrate seasonally for feeding and breeding. Females and young males live together in groups, while mature males (bulls) live solitary lives outside of the mating season. The females cooperate to protect and nurse their young. Females give birth every four to twenty years and care for the calves for more than a decade. A mature, healthy sperm whale has no natural predators, although calves and weakened adults are sometimes killed by pods of orcas.
Excerpted from Wikipedia’s “sperm whale” article, available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.
Gallery (14)
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