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Toothed whales have torpedo-shaped bodies with usually inflexible necks, limbs modified into flippers, no outer ears, a large tail fin, and bulbous heads (with the exception of the sperm whale family). Their skulls have small eye orbits, long beaks (with the exception sperm whales), and eyes placed on the sides of their heads.
The family Balaenidae, the right whales, contains two genera and four species. All right whales have no ventral grooves; a distinctive head shape with a strongly arched, narrow rostrum, bowed lower jaw; lower lips that enfold the sides and front of the rostrum; and long, narrow, elastic baleen plates (up to nine times longer than wide) with fine baleen fringes.
Two stranded adult male strap-toothed beaked whales were recorded as only being able to open their mouths 3.2 cm and 4 cm wide, compared to females and juveniles that had a gape size of 6.5 cm. [7] It is thought male beaked whales use their teeth to compete for mating access to females, as evidenced by scars and scratches on the bodies of males ...
Generally their teeth have evolved to catch fish, squid or other marine invertebrates, not for chewing them, so prey is swallowed whole. Teeth are shaped like cones (dolphins and sperm whales), spades , pegs , tusks or variable (beaked whale males). Female beaked whales' teeth are hidden in the gums and are not visible, and most male beaked ...
Alongside its tusk, the narwhal has a single pair of small vestigial teeth that reside in open tooth sockets in the upper jaw. These teeth, which differ in form and composition, encircle the exposed tooth sockets laterally, posteriorly, and ventrally. [30] [41] Vestigial teeth in male narwhals are commonly shed in the palate. The varied ...
Beaked whales are unique among toothed whales in that most species have only one pair of teeth. The teeth are tusk-like, but are only visible in males, which are presumed to use these teeth in combat for females for reproductive rights. In females, the teeth do not develop and remain hidden in the gum tissues. [11]
Now, sperm whales are protected under the Marine Mammal Protection Act. So, in order to sell the animal's tooth, it must be over 100 years old, and the owner has to know where it's been since the ...
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 ]