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More About Whales ...
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Whales are the largest species of exclusively aquatic placental mammals, members of the order Cetacea, which also includes dolphins and porpoises. The term whale is ambiguous: it can refer to all cetaceans, just the largest ones, or only to members of particular families within the order Cetacea. This latter definition is the one followed within Wikipedia. Whales are those cetaceans which are neither dolphins (i.e. members of the families Delphinidae or Platanistoidae) or porpoises. This can lead to some confusion as Orca (Killer Whales) and Pilot Whales have "whale" in their name, but are dolphins from the perspective of classification. Cetologists tend not to worry too much about making a distinction.
Like all members of the order, whales evolved from land mammals which returned to the sea undergoing aquatic adaptation, probably in the Eocene, between 55 and 34 million years ago. The precise ancestry of whales is still obscure, as there is no commonly agreed succession, but they are thought to have evolved from a group of carnivorous artiodactyla (even-toed hoofed animals). In 2001, two important 47-million-year-old partial fossils, named Rodhocetus balochistanensis and Artiocetus clavis, were discovered in Balochistan, Pakistan. These fossils represent intermediate forms between land-living ungulates and whales and are evidence that the whales' closest relatives on land might be hippos, which had been previously suggested by DNA studies. The first fully marine cetaceans, like Basilosaurus, appeared 40 million years ago.
Like all mammals, whales breathe air into lungs, are warm-blooded (i.e., endothermic), breast-feed their young, and have some (very little) hair. The whales' adaptions to a fully aquatic life are quite conspiciuous: The body is fusiform, resembling that of a fish. The forelimbs, also called flippers, are paddle-shaped. The end of the tail holds the fluke, which provides propulsion by vertical movements. Whales do not possess hind limbs, small bones inside the body are the only remains of the pelvis. Most species of whales bear a fin on their backs. Beneath the skin lies a layer of fat, the blubber. It serves as an energy reservoir and also as insulation. Whales have a four-chambered heart. The neck vertebrae are fused in most whales, whhich provides stability during swimming at the expense of flexibility. Whales breathe through blowholes, located on the top of the head so the animal can remain submerged. Baleen whales have two, toothed whales one blowhole. When breathing out after a dive, a spout can be seen from the right perspective, the shape of which differs among the species. Whales have a unique respiratory system that lets them stay underwater for long periods of time without taking any oxygen. Some whales, such as the Sperm Whale, can stay underwater for up to two hours in a single breath.
Whale females give birth to a single calf. Nursing time is long (more than one year in many species), which is associated with a strong bond between mother and young. In most whales reproductive maturity occurs late, typically at seven to ten years. This strategy of reproduction spawns few offspring, provided with a high rate of survival
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Source: Wikipedia Read more about Whales
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AUDIO CLIPS
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West Pacific Blue Whale
WAV Hear Sound
PMEL Whale Acoustic Projfect
whale vocalization. "They are generally a one to two-part frequency modulated moan that lasts about 20s with frequencies from 23 to 20 Hz.
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Southern Blue Whale
WAV Hear Sound
PMEL Whale Acoustic Projfect
whale vocalization of southern Blue Whale . These vocalizations consists of "three-part, pulsive moans".
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Atlantic Blue Whale Atlantic
WAV Hear Sound
PMEL Whale Acoustic Projfect
whale vocalization. "Atlantic blue whale calls are narrow-band, low frequency moans".
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Fin Whale
WAV Hear Sound
PMEL Whale Acoustic Projfect
whale vocalization
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Minke Whale
WAV Hear Sound
PMEL Whale Acoustic Projfect
whale vocalization
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Sperm whale
WAV Hear Sound
Universitą degli Studi di Pavia
Sperm whale clicking
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Sperm whale
WAV Hear Sound
Universitą degli Studi di Pavia
Sperm whale coda
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Beluaga Whale
WAV Hear Sound
Universitą degli Studi di Pavia
Beluga
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Long finned pilot whale
WAV Hear Sound
Universitą degli Studi di Pavia
Long finned pilot whale
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Killer whale
WAV Hear Sound
Universitą degli Studi di Pavia
Killer whale
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Killer whale
WAV Hear Sound
Universitą degli Studi di Pavia
Killer whale
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Beluga Whale
MP3 Hear Sound
National Geographic
Beluga Whale sound clip
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Blue Whale
MP3 Hear Sound
National Geographic
Blue Whale sound clip
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Gray Whale
MP3 Hear Sound
National Geographic
Gray Whale sound clip
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Humpback Whale
MP3 Hear Sound
National Geographic
Humpback Whale sound clip
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Narwhal
MP3 Hear Sound
National Geographic
Narwhal sound clip
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Killer Whale
MP3 Hear Sound
National Geographic
Killer Whale sound clip
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Right Whale
MP3 Hear Sound
National Geographic
Right Whale sound clip
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Sperm Whale
MP3 Hear Sound
National Geographic
Sperm Whale sound clip
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Sperm Whale
0.040MB WAV Hear Sound
VivaNatura
Sperm Whale sound
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Sperm Whale
0.070MB WAV Hear Sound
VivaNatura
Sperm Whale sound
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