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Marine mammals comprise over 130 living and recently extinct species in three taxonomic orders. The Society for Marine Mammalogy, an international scientific society, maintains a list of valid species and subspecies, most recently updated in October 2015. [1] This list follows the Society's taxonomy regarding and subspecies.
Marine mammals are mammals that rely on marine (saltwater) ecosystems for their existence. They include animals such as cetaceans ( whales, dolphins and porpoises ), pinnipeds ( seals, sea lions and walruses ), sirenians ( manatees and dugongs ), sea otters and polar bears. They are an informal group, unified only by their reliance on marine ...
For extinct cetaceans, see List of extinct cetaceans. Cetacea is an infraorder that comprises the 94 species of whales, dolphins, and porpoises. It is divided into toothed whales (Odontoceti) and baleen whales (Mysticeti), which diverged from each other in the Eocene some 50 million years ago (mya). Cetaceans are descended from land-dwelling ...
Gillnetting and Seine netting is a significant cause of mortality in whales and other marine mammals. [98] Species commonly entangled include beaked whales. Whales are also affected by marine pollution. High levels of organic chemicals accumulate in these animals since they are high in the food chain. They have large reserves of blubber, more ...
Sea otter. The sea otter ( Enhydra lutris) is a marine mammal native to the coasts of the northern and eastern North Pacific Ocean. Adult sea otters typically weigh between 14 and 45 kg (30 and 100 lb), making them the heaviest members of the weasel family, but among [ 3] the smallest marine mammals. Unlike most marine mammals, the sea otter's ...
Balaenoptera sibbaldii Sars , 1875. The blue whale ( Balaenoptera musculus) is a marine mammal and a baleen whale. Reaching a maximum confirmed length of 29.9 meters (98 ft) and weighing up to 199 tonnes (196 long tons; 219 short tons), it is the largest animal known ever to have existed. [ a] The blue whale's long and slender body can be of ...
Biology. Marine biology is the scientific study of the biology of marine life, organisms that inhabit the sea. Given that in biology many phyla, families and genera have some species that live in the sea and others that live on land, marine biology classifies species based on the environment rather than on taxonomy .
2008. Headquarters. Ostend, Belgium. Coordinates. 51°13′40.25″N 2°56′28.07″E. / 51.2278472°N 2.9411306°E / 51.2278472; 2.9411306. Website. marinespecies.org. The World Register of Marine Species ( WoRMS) is a taxonomic database that aims to provide an authoritative and comprehensive list of names of marine organisms.