Animalia > Chordata > Mammalia > Cetacea

Cetacea (dolphins, porpoises, and whales)

Synonyms: Balaena prisca (pro parte); Homocetus villersi (pro parte)

Wikipedia Abstract

Cetacea (/sᵻˈteɪʃə/), (from Latin cetus "whale" and Greek ketos "huge-fish") are a widely distributed and diverse clade of carnivorous, finned, aquatic marine mammals. They comprise the extant parvorders Odontoceti (toothed whales including dolphins and porpoises), Mysticeti (the baleen whales), and Archaeoceti (the ancestors of modern whales, and now extinct). There are around 89 species of cetaceans, and more than 70 belonging to Odontoceti. While cetaceans were historically thought to have descended from mesonychids, molecular evidence supports them as a relative of Artiodactyls (even-toed ungulates). Cetaceans belong to the order Cetartiodactyla (formed by combining Cetacea + Artiodactyla) and their closest living relatives are hippopotamuses and other hoofed mammals (camels, pigs, and
View Wikipedia Record: Cetacea

Family

Acrodelphinidae (5)
Aetiocetidae (9)
Agorophiidae (1)
Albireonidae (2)
Allodelphinidae (7)
Ambulocetidae (3)
Ashleycetidae (1)
Balaenidae (bowhead whales and right whales) (27)   (2)
Balaenopteridae (rorquals) (45)   (3)
Basilosauridae (23)
Cetotheriidae (29)
Cetotheriopsidae (3)
Dalpiazinidae (1)
Delphinidae (dolphins, killer whales, pilot whales, and relatives) (82)   (5)
Eschrichtiidae (gray whale) (5)
Eurhinodelphidae (9)
Eurhinodelphinidae (12)
Hapalodectidae (17)
Hyperoodontidae (61)   (1)
Iniidae (river dolphins) (10)   (1)
Kentriodontidae (28)
Kogiidae (12)
Lipotidae (1)   (1)
Mammalodontidae (1)
Mesonychidae (50)
Monodontidae (beluga and narwhal) (9)
Mystacodontidae (1)
Neobalaenidae (pygmy right whale) (2)
Odobenocetopsidae (2)
Patriocetidae (3)
Phocoenidae (porpoises) (21)   (2)
Physeteridae (sperm whales) (41)
Platanistidae (Indian river dolphins) (9)   (1)
Pontoporiidae (9)
Protocetidae (30)
Remingtonocetidae (33)
Rhabdosteidae (2)
Squalodelphidae (4)
Squalodelphinidae (1)
Squalodontidae (32)
Tranatocetidae (8)
Triisodontidae (11)
Waipatiidae (6)
Xenorophidae (5)

Genus

External References

Species taxanomy provided by GBIF Secretariat (2022). GBIF Backbone Taxonomy. Checklist dataset https://doi.org/10.15468/39omei accessed via GBIF.org on 2023-06-13; License: CC BY 4.0