Mesoplodont whales are 16 species of toothed whale in the genus Mesoplodon, making it the largest genus in the cetacean order. 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.

Physical description

thumb|upright|alt=The flank of a stranded whale, showing several round scars|Round scars from cookiecutter shark bites can be seen on the flank of this stranded Gray's beaked whale.

Mesoplodont beaked whales are small whales, (pygmy beaked whale) to (strap-toothed whale) in length,

  • Gervais's beaked whale (M. europaeus) <small>Gervais, 1855</small>
  • Ginkgo-toothed beaked whale (M. ginkgodens) <small>Nishiwaki and Kamiya, 1958</small>
  • Gray's beaked whale (M. grayi) <small>von Haast, 1876</small>
  • Hector's beaked whale (M. hectori) <small>Gray, 1871</small>
  • Hubbs' beaked whale (M. carlhubbsi) <small>Moore, 1963</small>
  • Perrin's beaked whale (M. perrini) <small>Dalebout, Mead, Baker, Baker & van Helden, 2002</small>
  • Pygmy beaked whale (M. peruvianus) <small>Reyes, Mead, and Van Waerebeek, 1991</small>
  • Sowerby's beaked whale (M. bidens) <small>Sowerby, 1804</small>
  • Spade-toothed whale (M. traversii) <small>Gray, 1874</small>
  • Stejneger's beaked whale (M. stejnegeri) <small>True, 1885</small>
  • Strap-toothed whale (M. layardii) <small>Gray, 1865</small>
  • True's beaked whale (M. mirus) <small>True, 1913</small>
  • Ramari's beaked whale (M. eueu) <small>Carroll et al, 2021</small>

Longman's beaked whale (Indopacetus pacificus, also known as the Indo-Pacific beaked whale or the tropical bottlenose whale) was originally assigned to Mesoplodon, but Joseph Curtis Moore placed it in its own genus, Indopacetus, a taxonomic assignment which has been followed by all researchers. M.&nbsp;posti, M.&nbsp;slangkopi, and M.&nbsp;tumidirostris.

<gallery mode="packed">

File:Mesoplodon bidens British mammals (Pl. 46) (21866206616).jpg|Sowerby's beaked whale, Mesoplodon bidens; a male, with conspicuous teeth in the lower jaw

File:Andrews' Beaked Whale (neonate, beachwashed) (cropped).JPG|A stranded newborn Andrews' beaked whale, M.&nbsp;bowdoini

File:Hubbs' beaked whale skull.jpg|Skull of a Hubbs' beaked whale (M. carlhubbsi)

File:Beaked Whale.jpg|Blainville's beaked whale (M. densirostris) in the Bahamas

File:Gervais' Beaked Whale.jpg|Gervais's beaked whale (M. europaeus) in the Gulf Stream off North Carolina

File:Researchers conduct autopsy on stranded beaked whale.jpg|Autopsy of a stranded Gray's beaked whale (M.&nbsp;grayi)

File:First underwater video of True's beaked whales underwater.ogv|True's beaked whale (M. mirus) off the Azores

File:Mesoplodon traversii.svg|The Spade-toothed whale (M. traversii) was only morphologically described in 2012.

</gallery>

References

Notes

Sources

  • <!-- -->
  • <!-- -->
  • Carly Cassella: Scientists Think They've Discovered a New Species of Beaked Whale. On: science<sup>alert</sup> 12 December 2020