🐾Sperm whale
The sperm whale or cachalot is the largest of the toothed whales and the largest toothed predator. It is the only living member of the genus Physeter and one of three extant species in the sperm whale superfamily Physeteroidea, along with the pygmy sperm whale and dwarf sperm whale of the genus Kogia.
Text: Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0.
IUCN Red List assessment, 2025.
- Body mass
- 10,100 kg
- Body length
- 11 m
- Shoulder height
- not recorded
- Top speed
- not recorded
- Bite force
- not recorded
- Maximum lifespan
- 100 years
Everything we know about the Sperm whale
Typical adult figures. Where a value is an estimate rather than a measurement, it says so.
Body mass10,100 kgrecord 57,000 kg · SeaLifeBaseCOMBINEOther figures ↓Hide ↑
Record: largest individual on record
Source: COMBINE · v1 (Soria et al. 2021) · CC BY 4.0
Figures vary
- 28,500 kgAnAgeAnAge build 15, 2023-07-03 (HAGR)data quality: acceptable
Body length11 mCOMBINEOther figures ↓Hide ↑
Source: COMBINE · v1 (Soria et al. 2021) · CC BY 4.0
By sex
- Female12 mSeaLifeBasev25.04
Figures vary
- 24 mSeaLifeBasev25.04
Brain mass7,818 gCOMBINEDetails ↓Hide ↑
Source: COMBINE · v1 (Soria et al. 2021) · CC BY 4.0
Maximum lifespan100 yearsCOMBINEOther figures ↓Hide ↑
Source: COMBINE · v1 (Soria et al. 2021) · CC BY 4.0
Figures vary
- 77 yearsAnAgeAnAge build 15, 2023-07-03 (HAGR)data quality: acceptable
Generation length27 yearsCOMBINEDetails ↓Hide ↑
Source: COMBINE · v1 (Soria et al. 2021) · CC BY 4.0
Age at maturity11 yearsCOMBINEDetails ↓Hide ↑
Source: COMBINE · v1 (Soria et al. 2021) · CC BY 4.0
Gestation1.3 yearsCOMBINEOther figures ↓Hide ↑
Source: COMBINE · v1 (Soria et al. 2021) · CC BY 4.0
Figures vary
- 1.4 yearsAnAgeAnAge build 15, 2023-07-03 (HAGR)data quality: acceptable
Litter size1COMBINEOther figures ↓Hide ↑
Source: COMBINE · v1 (Soria et al. 2021) · CC BY 4.0
Figures vary
- 1AnAgeAnAge build 15, 2023-07-03 (HAGR)data quality: acceptable
Trophic levelOmnivoreCOMBINEDetails ↓Hide ↑
Source: COMBINE · v1 (Soria et al. 2021) · CC BY 4.0
Activity cycleCrepuscular / mixedestimatedCOMBINEDetails ↓Hide ↑
Source: COMBINE · v1 (Soria et al. 2021) · CC BY 4.0
Volume l10,100 LaverageDetails ↓Hide ↑
Body mass at ~1.0 kg/L, the density of vertebrate tissue.
estimated = a model's estimate for a species nobody has measured; average = a mean across sexes or species in a group.
Not recorded for Sperm whale yet: shoulder height, top speed, bite force.
Family tree
- kingdomAnimalia
- ›phylumChordata
- ›classMammalia
- ›orderCetacea
- ›familyPhyseteridae
- ›genusPhyseter
- ›speciesPhyseter macrocephalus
- classMammals · Mammalia
- orderEven-toed hoofed animals · Artiodactyla
- infraorderWhales & dolphins · Cetacea
- genusPhyseter
All 15 branches ↓Fewer branches ↑
- kingdomMetazoa
- phylumChordata
- subphylumCraniata
- subphylumVertebrata
- superclassGnathostomata
- superclassSarcopterygii
- superclassTetrapoda
- classMammals · Mammalia
- subclassTheria
- superorderLaurasiatheria
- orderEven-toed hoofed animals · Artiodactyla
- suborderWhippomorpha
- infraorderWhales & dolphins · Cetacea
- familyPhyseteridae
- genusPhyseter
More about the Sperm whale
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