Hyperoodon planifrons (Southern bottlenose whale)

Antarctic bottle-nosed whale [English]; suidelike stompneuswalvis [Afrikaans]

Life > Eukaryotes > Opisthokonta > Metazoa (animals) > Bilateria > Deuterostomia > Chordata > Craniata > Vertebrata (vertebrates)  > Gnathostomata (jawed vertebrates) > Teleostomi (teleost fish) > Osteichthyes (bony fish) > Class: Sarcopterygii (lobe-finned fish) > Stegocephalia (terrestrial vertebrates) > Reptiliomorpha > Amniota > Synapsida (mammal-like reptiles) > Therapsida > Theriodontia >  Cynodontia > Mammalia (mammals) > Placentalia (placental mammals) > Laurasiatheria > Ferungulata > Cetartiodactyla (even-toed ungulates and cetaceans) > Whippomorpha > Cetacea (whales, dolphins and porpoises) > Family: Ziphiidae (beaked whales) > Subfamily: Hyperoodontinae

This is a melon headed beaked whale, whose length averages 7,5 metres and which weighs around 3 600 kilograms. It’s colouring is a deep blue grey. They tend to feed on molluscs. They are a rare and little known species of beaked whale.

Text by Derek Ohland