The cetaceans are an order of marine mammals made up of toothed and baleen whales. They breathe througha blowhole and their flukes are dorsoventrally compressed. The Cetacea order is divided in three suborders: Archaeoceti (extinct), Mysticeti and Odontoceti.
It includes right whales and rorqual whales, characterized by the presence of baleens (structures that allow them to filter the food), and two nasal orifices or blowholes located in the dorsal region of the head. Four families belong to this group: Balaenopteridae (Rorquals), Balaenidae (fRight whales), Neobalaenidae (Pygmy right whales) and Eschrichtiidae (Gray whales).
Suborder Odontoceti
It includes all the toothed cetaceans (e.g. dolphins, beaked whales, narwhals, belugas, kogias, sperm whales and porpoises). Besides having teeth, Odontoceti is distinguished from Mysticeti, by the presence of a melon, which participates in the echolocation process, and for having a single blowhole. Nine families belong to this suborder: Delphinidae, Physeteridae, Kogiidae, Ziphiidae, Monodontidae, Iniidae, Pontoporidae, Platanistidae and Phocoenidae.
Search
