Pygmy right whale

Pygmy right whale[1]
Temporal range: 6.2–0 Ma Late Miocene – Recent[2]
Pygmy right whale off the coast of southern Australia
Size compared to an average human
CITES Appendix I (CITES)[4]
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Mammalia
Order: Artiodactyla
Infraorder: Cetacea
Family: Cetotheriidae
Subfamily: Neobalaeninae
(Gray, 1873)
Genus: Caperea
Gray, 1864
Species:
C. marginata
Binomial name
Caperea marginata
(Gray, 1846)
Pygmy right whale range

The pygmy right whale (Caperea marginata) is a species of baleen whale. It may be a member of the cetotheres,[5] a family of baleen whales which until 2012 were thought to be extinct; C. marginata has otherwise been considered the sole member of the family Neobalaenidae[6] and is the only member of the genus Caperea. First described by John Edward Gray in 1846, it is the smallest of the baleen whales, ranging between 6 and 6.5 metres (20 and 21 ft) in length and 3,000 and 3,500 kilograms (6,610 and 7,720 lb) in mass. Despite its name, the pygmy right whale may have more in common with the gray whale and rorquals than the bowhead and right whales.[6]

The pygmy right whale is found in temperate waters of the Southern Hemisphere, and feeds on copepods and euphausiids. Little is known about its population or social habits. Unlike most other baleen whales, it has rarely been subject to exploitation.

  1. ^ 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.
  2. ^ Cite error: The named reference Miocene was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  3. ^ Cooke, J.G. (2018). "Caperea marginata". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2018: e.T3778A50351626. doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2018-2.RLTS.T3778A50351626.en. Retrieved 19 November 2021.
  4. ^ "Appendices | CITES". cites.org. Retrieved 14 January 2022.
  5. ^ Fordyce, R. E.; Marx, F. G. (2013). "The pygmy right whale Caperea marginata: the last of the cetotheres". Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences. 280 (1753): 1–6. doi:10.1098/rspb.2012.2645. PMC 3574355. PMID 23256199.
  6. ^ a b Kemper, Catherine (2008). "Pygmy Right Whale". In Perrin, W.; Wursig, B.; Thewissen, J. (eds.). Encyclopedia of Marine Mammals. Academic Press. pp. 939–41.