Monodontidae

The cetacean family Monodontidae comprises two living whale species, the narwhal and the beluga whale and at least four extinct species, known from the fossil record. Beluga and narwhal are native to coastal regions and pack ice around the Arctic Ocean. Both species are relatively small whales, 3–5 m (9.8–16.4 ft) in length, with a forehead melon, and a short or absent snout. Premaxillary teeth are absent.[1] They do not have a true dorsal fin, but do have a narrow ridge running along the back, which is much more pronounced in the narwhal. They are highly vocal animals, communicating with a wide range of sounds. Like other whales, they also use echolocation to navigate.[2] Belugas can be found in the far north of the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans; the distribution of narwhals is restricted to the Arctic and Atlantic Oceans.

Monodontids have a wide-ranging carnivorous diet, feeding on fish, molluscs, and small crustaceans. They have reduced teeth, with the beluga having numerous simple teeth, and the narwhal having only two teeth, one of which forms the tusks in males. Gestation lasts 14–15 months in both species, and almost always results in a single calf. The young are not weaned for a full two years, and do not reach sexual maturity until they are five to eight years of age. Family groups travel as part of herds, or 'pods', which may contain several hundred individuals.[2]

## Taxonomy

Skull of a cross between a narwhal and a beluga whale, at the Zoological Museum, Copenhagen

The monodontids, oceanic dolphins (Delphinidae) and porpoises (Phocoenidae) together comprise the Delphinoidea superfamily. Genetic evidence suggests the porpoises are more closely related to the monodontids, and these two families constitute a clade that diverged from the oceanic dolphins within the past 11 million years.[3][4]

* Suborder Odontoceti
* Superfamily Delphinoidea
* Family Monodontidae
* Genus †Haborodelphis
* Haborodelphis japonicus
* Genus † Denebola
* Denebola brachycephala
* Subfamily Delphinapterinae
* Genus Delphinapterus
* Delphinapterus leucas, beluga
* Genus †Casatia
* Casatia thermophila
* Subfamily Monodontinae
* Genus † Bohaskaia[5]
* Bohaskaia monodontoides
* Genus Monodon
* Monodon monoceros, narwhal

## References

1. ↑ Bohaskaia monodontoides, a New Monodontid (Cetacea, Odontoceti, Delphinoidea) from the Pliocene of the Western North Atlantic Ocean
2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 Brodie, Paul (1984). Macdonald, D.. ed. The Encyclopedia of Mammals. New York: Facts on File. pp. 200–203. ISBN 978-0-87196-871-5. https://archive.org/details/encyclopediaofma00mals_0/page/200.
3. ↑ Waddell, V.G.; Milinkovitch, M.C.; Bérubé, M.; Stanhope, M.J. (2000). "Molecular Phylogenetic Examination of the Delphinoidea Trichotomy: Congruent Evidence from Three Nuclear Loci Indicates That Porpoises (Phocoenidae) Share a More Recent Common Ancestry with White Whales (Monodontidae) Than They Do with True Dolphins (Delphinidae)". Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution 15 (2): 314–318. doi:10.1006/mpev.1999.0751. PMID 10837160. Bibcode: 2000MolPE..15..314W.
4. ↑ Bianucci; Pesci; Collareta; Tinelli (2019). "A new Monodontidae (Cetacea, Delphinoidea) from the lower Pliocene of Italy supports a warm-water origin for narwhals and white whales". Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology 39 (3). doi:10.1080/02724634.2019.1645148. Bibcode: 2019JVPal..39E5148B.
5. ↑ Jorge Vélez-Juarbe; Nicholas D. Pyenson (2012). "Bohaskaia monodontoides, a new monodontid (Cetacea, Odontoceti, Delphinoidea) from the Pliocene of the western North Atlantic Ocean". Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology 32 (2): 476–484. doi:10.1080/02724634.2012.641705. Bibcode: 2012JVPal..32..476V.

## External links

* Data related to Monodontidae at Wikispecies

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* t
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Extant Cetacea species

* Kingdom Animalia
* Phylum Chordata
* Class Mammalia
* Infraclass Eutheria
* Superorder Laurasiatheria
* Order Artiodactyla
* Suborder Whippomorpha

Parvorder Mysticeti (Baleen whales)

| Balaenidae|

| Balaena|

* Bowhead whale (B. mysticetus)

|

Eubalaena
(Right whales)|

* Southern right whale (E. australis)
* North Atlantic right whale (E. glacialis)
* North Pacific right whale (E. japonica)

Balaenopteridae
(Rorquals)|

| Balaenoptera|

* Common minke whale (B. acutorostrata)
* Antarctic minke whale (B. bonaerensis)
* Sei whale (B. borealis)
* Bryde's whale (B. brydei)
* Pygmy Bryde's whale (B. edeni)
* Blue whale (B. musculus)
* Omura's whale (B. omurai)
* Fin whale (B. physalus)

|

Megaptera|

* Humpback whale (M. novaeangliae)

Eschrichtiidae|

| Eschrichtius|

* Gray whale (E. robustus)

|

Neobalaenidae|

| Caperea|

* Pygmy right whale (C. marginata)

|

Parvorder Odontoceti (Toothed whales) (cont. below)

| Delphinidae
(Oceanic dolphins)|

| Cephalorhynchus|

* Commerson's dolphin (C. commersonii)
* Chilean dolphin (C. eutropia)
* Heaviside's dolphin (C. heavisidii)
* Hector's dolphin (C. hectori)

|

Delphinus|

* Long-beaked common dolphin (D. capensis)
* Short-beaked common dolphin (D. delphis)

Feresa|

* Pygmy killer whale (F. attenuata)

Globicephala
(Pilot whales)|

* Short-finned pilot whale (G. macrorhynchus)
* Long-finned pilot whale (G. melas)

Grampus|

* Risso's dolphin (G. griseus)

Lagenodelphis|

* Fraser's dolphin (L. hosei)

Lagenorhynchus|

* Atlantic white-sided dolphin (L. acutus)
* White-beaked dolphin (L. albirostris)
* Peale's dolphin (L. australis)
* Hourglass dolphin (L. cruciger)
* Pacific white-sided dolphin (L. obliquidens)
* Dusky dolphin (L. obscurus)

Lissodelphis
(Right whale dolphins)|

* Northern right whale dolphin (L. borealis)
* Southern right whale dolphin (L. peronii)

Orcaella|

* Irrawaddy dolphin (O. brevirostris)
* Australian snubfin dolphin (O. heinsohni)

Orcinus|

* Killer whale (O. orca)

Peponocephala|

* Melon-headed whale (P. electra)

Pseudorca|

* False killer whale (P. crassidens)

Sotalia|

* Tucuxi (S. fluviatilis)
* Guiana dolphin (S. guianensis)

Sousa|

* Indo-Pacific humpback dolphin (S. chinensis)
* Atlantic humpback dolphin (S. teuszii)

Stenella|

* Pantropical spotted dolphin (S. attenuata)
* Clymene dolphin (S. clymene)
* Striped dolphin (S. coeruleoalba)
* Atlantic spotted dolphin (S. frontalis)
* Spinner dolphin (S. longirostris)

Steno|

* Rough-toothed dolphin (S. bredanensis)

Tursiops|

* Indo-Pacific bottlenose dolphin (T. aduncus)
* Burrunan dolphin (T. australis)
* Common bottlenose dolphin (T. truncatus)

| Monodontidae|

| Delphinapterus|

* Beluga (D. leucas)

|

Monodon|

* Narwhal (M. monoceros)

| Phocoenidae|

| Neophocaena|

* Finless porpoise (N. phocaeniodes)
* Narrow-ridged finless porpoise (N. asiaorientalis)

|

Phocoena|

* Spectacled porpoise (P. dioptrica)
* Harbor porpoise (P. phocoena)
* Vaquita (P. sinus)
* Burmeister's porpoise (P. spinipinnis)

Phocoenoides|

* Dall's porpoise (P. dalli)

Physeteridae|

| Physeter|

* Sperm whale (P. macrocephalus)

|

| Kogiidae|

| Kogia|

* Pygmy sperm whale (K. breviceps)
* Dwarf sperm whale (K. simus)

|

| Iniidae|

| Inia|

* Amazon river dolphin (I. geoffrensis)

|

| Lipotidae|

| Lipotes|

* Baiji (L. vexillifer)

|

| Platanistidae|

| Platanista|

* South Asian river dolphin (P. gangetica)

|

| Pontoporiidae|

| Pontoporia|

* La Plata dolphin (P. blainvillei)

|

| Ziphiidae
(Beaked whales)|

| Berardius|

* Arnoux's beaked whale (B. arnuxii)
* Baird's beaked whale (B. bairdii)

|

Hyperoodon|

* Northern bottlenose whale (H. ampullatus)
* Southern bottlenose whale (H. planifrons)

Indopacetus|

* Tropical bottlenose whale (I. pacificus)

Mesoplodon
(Mesoplodont
whales)|

* Sowerby's beaked whale (M. bidens)
* Andrews' beaked whale (M. bowdoini)
* Hubbs' beaked whale (M. carlhubbsi)
* Blainville's beaked whale (M. densirostris)
* Gervais' beaked whale (M. europaeus)
* Ginkgo-toothed beaked whale (M. ginkgodens)
* Gray's beaked whale (M. grayi)
* Hector's beaked whale (M. hectori)
* Strap-toothed whale (M. layardii)
* True's beaked whale (M. mirus)
* Perrin's beaked whale (M. perrini)
* Pygmy beaked whale (M. peruvianus)
* Stejneger's beaked whale (M. stejnegeri)
* Spade-toothed whale (M. traversii)

Tasmacetus|

* Shepherd's beaked whale (T. sheperdi)

Ziphius |

* Cuvier's beaked whale (Z. cavirostris)

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