Pygmy right whale Caperea marginata Least concern
Where the pygmy right whale lives – recorded in 1 country, with quick facts from Wikidata and an introduction from Wikipedia.
Pin and shaded countries are approximate. The pin is a representative wild sighting (a central record among 149 open-licence GBIF records), not an official range. Method · Records on GBIF · See whales & dolphins on the world map
| Scientific name | Caperea marginata |
|---|---|
| Group | Whales & dolphins |
| Status | Least concern (Wikidata, IUCN category label) |
| Found in | 1 country |
| Continents | Oceania |
| Class | Mammal |
| Order | Artiodactyla |
| Family | Cetotheriidae |
Where does the pygmy right whale live?
Open-licence (CC0 / CC BY) wild records published on GBIF place the pygmy right whale in 1 country or territory across Oceania.
Countries with at least a handful of records (a minimum share of the species’ records, to leave out vagrants and escapes). Records with coordinates only; captive and fossil records excluded.
Is the pygmy right whale endangered?
The pygmy right whale’s conservation status recorded in Wikidata is “Least concern” (an IUCN Red List category label). Source: Wikidata.
What kind of animal is the pygmy right whale?
The pygmy right whale (Caperea marginata) is a mammal in the order Artiodactyla and the family Cetotheriidae, genus Caperea. (Taxonomy from Wikidata.)
About the pygmy right whale
The pygmy right whale (Caperea marginata) is a species of baleen whale. It may be a member of the cetotheres, a family of baleen whales which until 2012 were thought to be extinct; C. marginata has otherwise been considered the sole member of the family Neobalaenidae and is the only member of the genus Caperea. First described by John Edward Gray in 1846, it is the smallest of the baleen whales, ranging between 6 and 6.5 metres (20 and 21 ft) in length and 3,000 and 3,500 kilograms (6,610 and 7,720 lb) in mass. Despite its name, the pygmy right whale may have more in common with the gray whale and rorquals than the bowhead and right whales.
The pygmy right whale is found in temperate waters of the Southern Hemisphere, and feeds on copepods and euphausiids. Little is known about its population or social habits. Unlike most other baleen whales, it has rarely been subject to exploitation.
Text in “About” is quoted from the Wikipedia article Pygmy right whale (revision 1369800414), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Changes: lead section excerpted verbatim, formatting removed. Quick facts, taxonomy and status: Wikidata Q189615 (CC0). Countries and pin: GBIF.org occurrence records (CC0 / CC BY 4.0).
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