KEYWORDS: dolphin taxonomy whale taxonomy porpoise taxonomy dolphin species whale species porpoise species baleen whales toothed whales
The terms “whales”, “dolphins”, and “porpoises”, are not scientific and have been used interchangeably throughout history. Usually the term “whale” is used to describe a large cetacean whereas smaller cetaceans are usually called dolphins or popoises. Porpoises however, should refer only to the six species belonging to the family Phocoenidae. To make matters worse, there is also a dolphin fish, better known as mahi-mahi or dorado.
Taxonomy is the science of classification – it is an organized method of dividing plants and animals into groups. It is one of the ‘languages’ of biology.
All known living organisms (animals and plants), are classified as species, genera, and higher categories. This form of “bookkeeping”, known as taxonomy, was started by Swedish physician and naturalist, Carolus Linnaeus (1707-1778), in his work Systema Naturae, in 1735. His “binomial” system gave all then known animal and plant species a two part scientific name; a capitalized generic name, and a trivial name, that isn’t. Scientific names were usually, and still are today, given in latin or greek, as well as being italicized or underlined. 1758, the year that the tenth edition of Linnaeus’ work was published, is regarded as the official starting point of our modern taxonomy. As new plants and animals have been discovered, Linnaeus’ classification system has grown and evolved.
As common names vary by country and even region, having standard scientific names that are recognized all over the world, is very important. Otherwise how would people in different parts of the world talk about animals and be certain that they both know exactly which animal they are talking about? Taxonomy however, remains a continuously contested science as new
| THIS IS AN EXAMPLE OF THE WAY THE BLUE WHALE FITS INTO THE CLASSIFICATION SCHEME: | ||
| kingdom | Animalia | |
| phylum | Chordata | vertebrates (amphibians, birds, fish, mammals, reptiles |
| class | Mammalia | mammals |
| order | Cetacea | marine mammals |
| family | Balaenopteridae | rorquals |
| genus | Balaenoptera | from the Latin balaena for “whale” and the Greek pteron for “wing” or “fin”. * |
| species
(common |
musculus
BLUE WHALE) |
from the Latin musculus, dimunutive of mus for mouse (perhaps meant as a joke, but sometimes also interpreted as muscular). * |
| * from Leatherwood, Stephen, and Randall R. Reeves. The Sierra Club Handbook of Whales and Dolphins. Paintings by Larry Foster. San Francisco: Sierra Club Books, 1983. 47. | ||
species are still being discovered and recent developments in the field of DNA (deoxyribonicleic acid) are challenging the old classification, based largely on anatomical similarities and evolutionary descent.
Below, shows the most current classification of the order of Cetacea. From the latin word cetus, and Greek ketos, meaning large sea creature or monster, it includes all known living whales, dolphins, and porpoises. This list will undoubtedly change as researchers find out more and more about cetaceans
The terms “whales”, “dolphins”, and “porpoises”, are not scientific and have been used interchangeably throughout history. Usually the term “whale” is used to describe a large cetacean whereas smaller cetaceans are usually called dolphins or popoises. Porpoises however, should refer only to the six species belonging to the family Phocoenidae. To make matters worse, there is also a dolphin fish, better known as mahi-mahi or dorado.
English common names used in the list are by no means standardized but follow mostly those used by the IWC (International Whaling Commission). Classification follows largely Dale W. Rice’s, (1998) Marine Mammals of the World: Systematics and Distribution, special publication No. 4. by the Society of Marine Mammology
A guide to the pronunciation of biological Latin in English speech can be found at www.saltspring.com/capewest/pron.htm.
suborder Mysticeti (baleen whales)
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| family Physeteridae | |||
| Physeter macrocephalus | sperm whale | ||
| family Kogiidae | |||
| Kogia breviceps | pygmy sperm whale | ||
| Kogia sima | dwarf sperm whale | ||
| family Ziphiidae (beaked whales) | |||
| Berardius bairdii | Baird’s beaked whale | ||
| Berardius arnuxii | Arnoux’ beaked whale | ||
| Tasmacetus shepherdi | Shepherd’s beaked whale | ||
| Ziphius cavirostris | Cuvier’s beaked whale | ||
| Hyperoodon ampullatus | northern bottlenose whale | ||
| Indopacetus pacificus | Longman’s beaked whale | ||
| Mesoplodon hectori | Hector’s beaked whale | ||
| Mesoplodon mirus | True’s beaked whale | ||
| Mesoplodon europaeus | Gervais’ beaked whale | ||
| Mesoplodon ginkgodens | ginkgo-toothed beaked whale | ||
| Mesoplodon grayi | Gray’s beaked whale | ||
| Mesoplodon carlhubbsi | Hubbs’ beaked whale | ||
| Mesoplodon stejnegeri | Stejneger’s beaked whale | ||
| Mesoplodon bowdoini | Andrew’s beaked whale | ||
| Mesoplodon bidens | Sowerby’s beaked whale | ||
| Mesoplodon layardii | strap-toothed whale | ||
| Mesoplodon densirostris | Blainville’s beaked whale | ||
| Mesoplodon peruvianus | Pygmy beaked whale | ||
| Mesoplodon traversii | spade-toothed whale | ||
| Mesoplodon perrini | Perrin’s beaked whale whale | ||
suborder Odontoceti (toothed whales)
| family Delphinidae (dolphins) | |||
| Steno bredanensis | rough-toothed dolphin | ||
| Sousa chinensis | Indo-Pacific hump-backed dolphin | ||
| Sousa teuszii | Atlantic hump-backed dolphin | ||
| Sotalia fluviatilis | tucuxi | ||
| Tursiops truncatus | bottlenose dolphin | ||
| Tursiops aduncus | Indo-pacific bottlenose dolphin | ||
| Stenella longirostris | spinner dolphin | ||
| Stenella clymene | clymene dolphin | ||
| Stenella frontalis | Atlantic spotted dolphin | ||
| Stenella attenuata | pantropical spotted dolphin | ||
| Stenella coeruleoalba | striped dolphin | ||
| Delphinus delphis | short-beaked common dolphin | ||
| Delphinus capensis | long-beaked common dolphin | ||
| Lagenodelphis hosei | Fraser’s dolphin | ||
| Lagenorhynchus albirostris | white-beaked dolphin | ||
| Lagenorhynchus acutus | Atlantic white-sided dolphin | ||
| Lagenorhynchus obliquidens | Pacific white-sided dolphin | ||
| Lagenorhynchus obscurus | dusky dolphin | ||
| Lagenorhynchus australis | Peale’s dolphin | ||
| Lagenorhynchus cruciger | hourglass dolphin | ||
| Cephalorhynchus commersonii | Commerson’s dolphin | ||
| Cephalorhynchus heavisidii | Heaviside’s dolphin | ||
| Cephalorhynchus eutropia | black dolphin | ||
| Cephalorhynchus hectori | Hector’s dolphin | ||
| Lissodelphis borealis | northern right whale dolphin | ||
| Lissodelphis peronii | southern right whale dolphin | ||
| Grampus griseus | Risso’s dolphin | ||
| Peponocephala electra | melon-headed whale | ||
| Feresa attenuata | pygmy killer whale | ||
| Pseudorca crassidens | false killer whale | ||
| Globicephala melas | long-finned pilot whale | ||
| Globicephala macrorhynchus | short-finned pilot whale | ||
| Orcinus orca | killer whale | ||
| Orcaella brevirostris | Irrawaddy dolphin | ||
| family Monodontidae (white whales) | |||
| Delphinapterus leucas | beluga, white whale | ||
| Monodon monoceros | narwhal | ||
| family Platanistidae | |||
| Platanista gangetica | Ganges & Indus river dolphin | ||
| family Iniidae | |||
| Inia geoffrensis | boto, Amazon river dolphin | ||
| family Lipotidae | |||
| Lipotes vexillifer | baiji, Yangtze river dolphin | ||
| family Pontoporiidae | |||
| Pontoporia blainvillei | franciscana, La Plata dolphin | ||
| family Phocoenidae (porpoises) | |||
| Phocoena phocoena | harbor porpoise | ||
| Phocoena sinus | vaquita | ||
| Phocoena dioptrica | spectacled porpoise | ||
| Phocoena spinnipinnis | Burmeister’s porpoise | ||
| Neophocaena phocaenoides | finless porpoise | ||
| Phocoenoides dalli | Dall’s porpoise | ||