Rorqual

Rorquals[2]
Temporal range: Miocene–Recent[1]
Blue whale, Balaenoptera musculus
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Mammalia
Order: Artiodactyla
Infraorder: Cetacea
Parvorder: Mysticeti
Superfamily: Balaenopteroidea
Family: Balaenopteridae
Gray 1864
Type genus
Balaenoptera
Extant genera

Balaenoptera
Megaptera

Synonyms

Eschrichtiidae? Ellerman & Morrison-Scott 1951
Rhachianectidae Weber 1904

Rorquals (/ˈrɔːrkwəlz/) are the largest group of baleen whales, comprising the family Balaenopteridae, which contains nine extant species in two genera. They include the largest known animal that has ever lived, the blue whale, which can reach 180 tonnes (200 short tons), and the fin whale, which reaches 120 tonnes (130 short tons); even the smallest of the group, the northern minke whale, reaches 9 tonnes (10 short tons).

Rorquals take their name from French rorqual, which derives from the Norwegian word røyrkval: the first element røyr originated from the Old Norse name for this type of whale, reyðr,[3] probably related to the Norse word for "red", and the second from the Norse word hvalr meaning "whale" in general.[4] The family name Balaenopteridae is from the type genus, Balaenoptera.

  1. ^ "Family Balaenopteridae Gray 1864 (rorqual)". Fossilworks. Retrieved 9 April 2018.
  2. ^ Mead, J. G.; Brownell, R. L. Jr. (2005). "Order Cetacea". In Wilson, D. E.; Reeder, D. M. (eds.). Mammal Species of the World: A Taxonomic and Geographic Reference (3rd ed.). Johns Hopkins University Press. pp. 723–743. ISBN 978-0-8018-8221-0. OCLC 62265494.
  3. ^ "rorqual". Oxford English Dictionary (Online ed.). Oxford University Press. (Subscription or participating institution membership required.): "ad. Norw. røyrkval, repr. ON. *røyðar-, OIcel. reyðar-hvalr, f. reyðurreyðr the specific name + hvalr whale."
  4. ^ The Century Dictionary. 1895. p. 5228.