🐾Bowhead whale
弓頭鯨（學名：Balaena mysticetus）又称北極鯨、北极露脊鲸、格陵蘭露脊鯨、格陵兰鲸或巨极地鲸，是一种生活在北极和亚北极海域的露脊鯨，也是露脊鲸属的唯一現生種（其他几种现生露脊鲸则另归於真露脊鯨屬）。得名自独特而硕大的弓状头颅，並能用头撞破冰层出水呼吸。表皮呈蓝黑色或暗灰色，躯幹肥壮，体型巨大，成体全长14–18米，重50–100吨，且雌性大於雄性。上颌狭窄，下颌末端具白色斑块。身上无皮茧和肉瘤，喷气孔部位明显下陷。背部浑圆，无背鳍和隆起物。尾幹末端最细处有浅灰色斑块。 弓头鲸拥有鬚鯨家族中最长的鯨鬚，以及整个动物界中最大的嘴和最厚的脂肪——其黑色鯨鬚最长可达4米，带有绿色光泽，用以滤食桡足类和磷蝦等浮游甲壳动物；唇线呈弯弓状延伸，约占身体总长的1/3；脂肪层厚达43–50厘米，能在极寒的水中保持体温。此外弓头鲸也是已知最长寿的哺乳动物，寿命可超过200年。 弓头鲸曾是捕鲸业的主要猎杀对象，一度濒临灭绝，1930年代以来受到国际公约的保护，数量在不断回升，现被世界自然保护联盟（IUCN）评估为无危物种。
Text: Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0.
IUCN Red List assessment, 2018.
- Body mass
- 80,000 kg
- Body length
- 14 m
- Shoulder height
- not recorded
- Top speed
- not recorded
- Bite force
- not recorded
- Maximum lifespan
- 211 years
Everything we know about the Bowhead whale
Typical adult figures. Where a value is an estimate rather than a measurement, it says so.
Body mass80,000 kgrecord 100,000 kg · SeaLifeBaseCOMBINEOther figures ↓Hide ↑
Record: largest individual on record
Source: COMBINE · v1 (Soria et al. 2021) · CC BY 4.0
Figures vary
- 100,000 kgAnAgeAnAge build 15, 2023-07-03 (HAGR)data quality: acceptable
Body length14 mCOMBINEOther figures ↓Hide ↑
Source: COMBINE · v1 (Soria et al. 2021) · CC BY 4.0
By sex
- Female20 mSeaLifeBasev25.04
Figures vary
- 18 mSeaLifeBasev25.04
Maximum lifespan211 yearsCOMBINEOther figures ↓Hide ↑
Source: COMBINE · v1 (Soria et al. 2021) · CC BY 4.0
Figures vary
- 211 yearsAnAgeAnAge build 15, 2023-07-03 (HAGR)data quality: acceptable
Generation length52 yearsCOMBINEDetails ↓Hide ↑
Source: COMBINE · v1 (Soria et al. 2021) · CC BY 4.0
Age at maturity17 yearsCOMBINEDetails ↓Hide ↑
Source: COMBINE · v1 (Soria et al. 2021) · CC BY 4.0
Gestation1.0 yearsCOMBINEOther figures ↓Hide ↑
Source: COMBINE · v1 (Soria et al. 2021) · CC BY 4.0
Figures vary
- 1.1 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 levelCarnivoreCOMBINEDetails ↓Hide ↑
Source: COMBINE · v1 (Soria et al. 2021) · CC BY 4.0
Activity cycleCrepuscular / mixedCOMBINEDetails ↓Hide ↑
Source: COMBINE · v1 (Soria et al. 2021) · CC BY 4.0
Volume l80,000 LaverageDetails ↓Hide ↑
Body mass at ~1.0 kg/L, the density of vertebrate tissue.
average = a mean across sexes or species in a group.
Not recorded for Bowhead whale yet: shoulder height, top speed, bite force.
Family tree
- kingdomAnimalia
- ›phylumChordata
- ›classMammalia
- ›orderCetacea
- ›familyBalaenidae
- ›genusBalaena
- ›speciesBalaena mysticetus
- classMammals · Mammalia
- orderEven-toed hoofed animals · Artiodactyla
- infraorderWhales & dolphins · Cetacea
- genusBalaena
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
- familyBalaenidae
- genusBalaena
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