AnAge entry for Delphinapterus leucas
Classification (HAGRID: 02314)
- Taxonomy
-
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Mammalia (Taxon entry)
Order: Cetacea (Taxon entry)
Family: Monodontidae
Genus: Delphinapterus
- Species
- Delphinapterus leucas
- Common name
- Beluga
- Synonyms
- Delphinapterus beluga, Delphinapterus catodon, Beluga catodon, Delphinapterus leucas marisalbi
Lifespan, ageing, and relevant traits
- Maximum longevity
- 40 years (captivity)
- Source
- ref. 671
- Sample size
- Medium
- Data quality
- Acceptable
- Observations
It is estimated that these animals may live up to 40 years in the wild [0573]. One wild born specimen was still alive in captivity at about 34 years of age [0671]. Maximum longevity could be underestimated.
Like other species, these animals seem to suffer from reproductive senescence [1370].
Life history traits (averages)
- Female sexual maturity
- 1,644 days
- Male sexual maturity
- 2,283 days
- Gestation
- 416 days
- Weaning
- Litter size
- 1 (viviparous)
- Litters per year
- 0.3
- Inter-litter interval
- 1,004 days
- Weight at birth
- 66,000 g
- Weight at weaning
- Adult weight
- 1,430,000 g
- Postnatal growth rate
Metabolism
- Typical body temperature
- 309ºK or 35.8ºC or 96.4ºF
- Basal metabolic rate
- Not yet available
References
- [1370] Ellis et al. (2018), Analyses of ovarian activity reveal repeated evolution of post-reproductive lifespans in toothed whales (PubMed)
- [0671] Richard Weigl (2005), Longevity of Mammals in Captivity; from the Living Collections of the World
- [0434] Ronald Nowak (1999), Walker's Mammals of the World
- [0538] Don Wilson and Sue Ruff (1999), The Smithsonian Book of North American Mammals
- [0455] Virginia Hayssen et al. (1993), Asdell's Patterns of Mammalian Reproduction: A Compendium of Species-Specific Data
- [1065] Kastings et al. (1989), Thermoregulation in beluga (Delphinapterus leucas) and killer (Orcinus orca) whales
- [0680] Wootton (1987), The effects of body mass, phylogeny, habitat, and trophic level on mammalian age at first reproduction
- [0573] David Macdonald (1985), The Encyclopedia of Mammals
External Resources
- Integrated Taxonomic Information System
- ITIS 180483
- Animal Diversity Web
- ADW account (if available)
- Encyclopaedia of Life
- Search EOL
- NCBI Taxonomy
- Taxonomy ID 9749
- Entrez
- Search all databases
- Ageing Literature
- Search Google Scholar or Search PubMed
- Images
- Google Image search
- Internet
- Search Google