Mesoplodon

Mesoplodon
Sowerby's beaked whale (on Faroese stamp)
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Mammalia
Order: Artiodactyla
Infraorder: Cetacea
Family: Ziphiidae
Subfamily: Hyperoodontinae
Genus: Mesoplodon
Gervais, 1850
Type species
Delphinus sowerbensis [1]
de Blainville, 1817
Species

16, See text.

Mesoplodont whales are 16 species of toothed whale in the genus Mesoplodon, making it the largest genus in the cetacean order.[2] Two species were described as recently as 1991 (pygmy beaked whale) and 2002 (Perrin's beaked whale), and marine biologists predict the discovery of more species in the future.[3] A new species was described in 2021.[4] They are the most poorly known group of large mammals.[2] The generic name "mesoplodon" comes from the Greek meso- (middle) - hopla (arms) - odon (teeth), and may be translated as 'armed with a tooth in the centre of the jaw'.[3]

  1. ^ Wilson, D. E.; Reeder, D. M., eds. (2005). Mammal Species of the World: A Taxonomic and Geographic Reference (3rd ed.). Johns Hopkins University Press. ISBN 978-0-8018-8221-0. OCLC 62265494.
  2. ^ a b Pitman 2008, p. 721
  3. ^ a b Pitman 2008, Characters and Taxonomic Relationships, pp. 721–724
  4. ^ Carroll et al. 2021.