Chordata · chordates

Beluga whale

Delphinapterus leucas

Monodontidae · narwhals & belugasIUCN: Least Concern
Beluga whale
Photo: Javier Yaya Tur (CAC, S. A.) · CC BY 2.0 · Wikimedia Commons · resized

A white Arctic whale with a flexible neck and a bulging melon.

Fun factIts range of chirps and whistles earned it the name 'sea canary.'

Waters
Northwest Atlantic, Arctic Ocean
Depth zone
Coastal shallows & estuaries, Open-ocean surface waters
Diet
Fish & invertebrates
Size
Up to 5.5 m

Classification

Chordata › Mammalia › Artiodactyla › Monodontidae

  1. Kingdom Animalia animals
    • Many-celled organisms that eat other living things for energy (heterotrophs)
    • Cells have no cell walls
    • Most can move at some stage of life
  2. Clade Bilateria bilateral animals
    • Body has a left and right side that mirror each other (bilateral symmetry)
    • Head end with concentrated nerves; three tissue layers
    • Includes about 99% of all living animal species
  3. Clade Deuterostomia deuterostomes
    • In the embryo, the first opening becomes the anus and the mouth forms second
    • Includes echinoderms and chordates
  4. Phylum Chordata chordates
    • At some stage of life: a stiffening rod along the back (notochord)
    • A hollow nerve cord along the back (dorsal)
    • Slits in the throat (pharyngeal slits) and a tail past the anus
  5. Subphylum Vertebrata vertebrates
    • A skull (cranium) protecting a brain
    • Backbone or similar support around the nerve cord
    • Includes fishes, amphibians, reptiles, birds, and mammals
  6. Infraphylum Gnathostomata jawed vertebrates
    • Jawed vertebrates: jaws formed from gill arches
    • Paired fins or limbs
    • Includes all fishes except hagfish and lampreys, plus all tetrapods
  7. Superclass Osteichthyes bony vertebrates
    • Bony vertebrates: skeleton made largely of bone
    • Most have a lung or swim bladder
    • Includes ray-finned and lobe-finned fishes and all tetrapods
  8. Clade Sarcopterygii lobe-finned vertebrates
    • Lobe-finned: fleshy fins with bones like those of limbs
    • Includes coelacanths, lungfishes, and all tetrapods
  9. Clade Tetrapoda four-limbed vertebrates
    • Four limbs with fingers and toes (or descended from animals that had them)
    • Breathe air with lungs
  10. Class Mammalia mammals
    • Mammals: hair at some stage of life
    • Females nurse their young with milk (mammary glands)
    • Three small bones in the middle ear
  11. Superorder Laurasiatheria whales, carnivorans & kin
    • Large group of placental mammals including whales, carnivores, bats, and hoofed animals
  12. Order Artiodactyla even-toed hoofed mammals (whales included)
    • Even-toed hoofed mammals (cows, deer, hippos) and their relatives the whales
    • Whales evolved from land ancestors close to hippos
  13. Infraorder Cetacea whales, dolphins & porpoises
    • Whales, dolphins, and porpoises: fully aquatic, with flippers and a horizontal tail fluke
    • Breathe through a blowhole on top of the head
    • Thick blubber instead of fur
  14. Parvorder Odontoceti toothed whales
    • Toothed whales: teeth instead of baleen
    • One blowhole
    • Find prey by echolocation using a fatty 'melon' in the forehead
  15. Family Monodontidae narwhals & belugas
    • Narwhals and belugas: Arctic whales with no dorsal fin
  16. Genus Delphinapterus
    • Species in the same genus are very close relatives and often look alike.
  17. Species Delphinapterus leucas Beluga whale

Closest relatives in the guide