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Baleen whale

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	Baleen whale
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	Topics Baleen whale Topic Home The baleen whales, also called whalebone whales or great whales, form the Mysticeti, one of two suborders of the CetaceaCetacea The order Cetacea includes whales, dolphins and porpoises.... (whales, dolphins, and porpoises). Baleen whales are characterized by having baleenBaleen Baleen is a substance made of keratin and is therefore stiff but somewhat elastic.... plates for filtering food from water, rather than having teeth. This distinguishes them from the other suborder of cetaceans, the toothed whales or Odontoceti. Living Mysticeti species have teeth only during the embryoEmbryo An embryo is a multicellular diploid eukaryote in its earliest stage of development. ... nal phase. Fossil Mysticeti had teeth before baleen evolved. The suborder contains four familiesFamily (biology) In biological classification, family is 1) a rank or 2) a taxon in that rank.... and fourteen speciesSpecies In biology, a species is one of the basic units of biodiversity.... . A list of species can be found below and at the CetaceaCetacea The order Cetacea includes whales, dolphins and porpoises.... article. The scientific name derives from the GreekGreek language Greek has a documented history of 3,500 years, the longest of any single language within the Indo-European family.... word mystidos, which means "unknowable". Anatomy Baleen whales are generally larger than toothed whales, and females are larger than males. This group includes the largest living animal species, the Blue WhaleBlue Whale The Blue Whale is a marine mammal belonging to the suborder of baleen whales.... . Baleen whales have two blowholesBlowhole (biology) In biology, a blowhole is the hole at the top of a Cetacean's head through which the animal breathes air.... , causing a V-shaped blow. Ecology and life history Behavioral ecology Breaching In spite of their enormous massMass Mass is a property of a physical object that quantifies the amount of matter and energy it is equivalent to.... , baleen whales are able to leap completely out of the water. Particularly known for their acrobatics are the Humpback WhaleHumpback Whale The Humpback Whale is a mammal which belongs to the baleen whale suborder.... s, but other baleen whales also break through the water surface with their body or beat it loudly with their finFin Overview A fin is a surface used to produce lift and thrust or to steer while traveling in water, air, or other fluid media.... s. The reason for these habits is not known for certain. Some believe that the male Baleen Whales try to show off to the females, to increase their mating success. Importance to humans From the 11th to the late 20th centuries, baleen whales were hunted commercially for their oilOil Oil, in a general sense, is a chemical compound that is not miscible with water, and is in a liquid state at ambient tempera... and baleen. Their oil can be made into margarineMargarine Margarine, as a generic term, can indicate any of a wide range of butter-substitutes.... and cooking oils. Baleen was used to stiffen corsetCorset A corset is a garment worn to mold and shape the torso into a desired shape for aesthetic or medical purposes.... s, as parasol ribs, and to crease paper. Evolutionary history Early baleen whales first appeared as far back as Early OligoceneOligocene The Oligocene epoch is a geologic period of time that extends from about 34 million to 23 million years before the present.... , or perhaps the latest EoceneEocene The Eocene epoch is a major division of the geologic timescale and the second epoch of the Palaeogene period in the Cenozoi... (39-29 million years ago). Early baleen whales probably did not have extensive, if any, baleen, but did possess teeth inherited from their ancestors. The OligoceneOligocene The Oligocene epoch is a geologic period of time that extends from about 34 million to 23 million years before the present.... species Aetiocetus cotylalveus is considered the evolutionary link between toothed and baleen whales. It was discovered by renowned fossil collector Douglas EmlongDouglas Emlong Douglas Ralph Emlong was an amateur fossil collector from the northwestern United States.... in 1964 near Seal Rock State Recreation Site, OregonOregon Oregon is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States.... in a sandstoneSandstone Sandstone is a sedimentary rock composed mainly of sand-size mineral or rock grains.... formation . In the early 1990s, the species Janjucetus hunderi was discovered in VictoriaVictoria (Australia) Victoria is a state located in the south-eastern corner of Australia.... , AustraliaAustralia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland o... by a surfer and was described in 2006 by E. M. G. Fitzgerald. JanjucetusJanjucetus *Janjucetus* was a prehistoric whale genus belonging to the group Mysticeti, which includes all baleen whales.... was a baleen whale with sharp teeth that hunted fishFish A fish is a water-dwelling vertebrate with gills, that remains so throughout its life.... and squidSquid Squids are a large, diverse group of marine cephalopods.... as well as larger prey, potentially including sharksShark Sharks are fish with a full cartilaginous skeleton and a streamlined body.... and dolphinDolphin Dolphins are highly intelligent aquatic mammals closely related to whales and porpoises.... -like cetaceans. These fossils hint that early baleen whales were predatory and eventually evolved into the gentler, toothless whales known today. The first baleened, toothless baleen whales probably appeared in the Early or Middle MioceneMiocene Summary The Miocene epoch is a period of time that extends from about 23 to 5.3 million years before the present.... , from a toothed ancestor that adapted initially to eat small fishes or other creatures and eventually to feed solely by filtering. Early forms of Baleen Whales may have also been able to echolocate. Taxonomic classification ORDER CETACEACetacea The order Cetacea includes whales, dolphins and porpoises.... External links