AnAge entry for Physeter macrocephalus
Classification (HAGRID: 02319)
- Taxonomy
-
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Mammalia (Taxon entry)
Order: Cetacea (Taxon entry)
Family: Physeteridae
Genus: Physeter
- Species
- Physeter macrocephalus
- Common name
- Sperm whale
- Synonyms
- Physeter catodon, Physeter australasianus, Physeter australis
Lifespan, ageing, and relevant traits
- Maximum longevity
- 77 years (wild)
- Source
- ref. 1
- Sample size
- Medium
- Data quality
- Acceptable
- Observations
This whale has the biggest brain among mammals weighting about 9.2 Kg [0434].
Life history traits (averages)
- Female sexual maturity
- 2,922 days
- Male sexual maturity
- 3,650 days
- Gestation
- 502 days
- Weaning
- 560 days
- Litter size
- 1 (viviparous)
- Litters per year
- 0.2
- Inter-litter interval
- 1,259 days
- Weight at birth
- 1,000,000 g
- Weight at weaning
- Adult weight
- 28,500,000 g
- Postnatal growth rate
Metabolism
No information on metabolism is available.
References
- [0978] Jones et al. (2009), PanTHERIA: a species-level database of life history, ecology, and geography of extant and recently extinct mammals
- [0817] Bielby et al. (2007), The fast-slow continuum in mammalian life history: an empirical reevaluation (PubMed)
- [0963] McAuliffe and Whitehead (2005), Eusociality, menopause and information in matrilineal whales (PubMed)
- [0610] Ernest (2003), Life history characteristics of placental non-volant mammals
- [0447] Pieter Folkens et al. (2002), National Audubon Society Guide to Marine Mammals of the World
- [0001] Carey and Judge (2000), Longevity Records: Life Spans of Mammals, Birds, Amphibians, Reptiles, and Fish
- [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
- [0680] Wootton (1987), The effects of body mass, phylogeny, habitat, and trophic level on mammalian age at first reproduction
External Resources
- Integrated Taxonomic Information System
- ITIS 180488
- Animal Diversity Web
- ADW account (if available)
- Encyclopaedia of Life
- Search EOL
- NCBI Taxonomy
- Entrez
- Search all databases
- Ageing Literature
- Search Google Scholar or Search PubMed
- Images
- Google Image search
- Internet
- Search Google