Balaenoptera physalus

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Fin whale
Species name: Balaenoptera physalus

The fin whale (Balaenoptera physalus), also called the finback whale, razorback, or common rorqual, is a marine mammal belonging to the suborder of baleen whales. It is the second largest whale and the second largest living animal after the blue whale, growing to nearly 27 meters. Like all other large whales, the fin whale was heavily hunted during the twentieth century and is an endangered species. Almost 750,000 fin whales were taken from the Southern Hemisphere alone between 1904 and 1979 and less than 3,000 currently remain in that region. The International Whaling Commission (IWC) has issued a moratorium on commercial hunting of this whale, although Iceland and Japan have resumed hunting. (Source:Wikipedia)

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• Species identity and nomenclature
• Current Wikipedia entry
• Binomial Classification
• Description and Morphology
• Habitat and Geographical Spread
• Maps
• Life history and ecology
• Conservation and Management
• Sociocultural significance
• Summary of PubMed articles
• Summary of NCBI molecular data
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Parameter	Value(s)	References See complete references in the References section at the end
Names of users who have contributed to this species page	Gauravm
Date on which this page was first created	2011/03/02
This page was last modified on:	2 March 2011 22:20:18
Name of the species	Balaenoptera physalus Link to page on Wikipedia
ID on Encyclopedia of Life	328573 Link to page on EoL
Synonyms	Please check Binomial Classification section for synonyms.
Common English Names	Finback whale, Fin whale, Razorback, Common rorqual
Common Hindi Names
Common Indian names
Origins/Meanings of the common names

Taxonomy from Encyclopedia of Life

{{#EoLOnlyHierarchy:328573}} 

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Taxonomy filled in form

Taxon	Value
Regnum (Kingdom)	Animalia
Phylum	Chordata
Class	Mammalia
Order	Cetacea
Family	Balaenopteridae
Genus	Balaenoptera
Source of data	Encyclopedia of Life through Species 2000

Other closely related species

Species Division/Phylum Common name Common Hindi name Moschus chrysogaster Chordata Alpine Musk Deer Crocidura andamanensis Chordata Andaman shrew Crocidura hispida Chordata Andaman spiny shrew … further results

Division	Taxon details	Taxon morphology details
Chordata	The phylum Chordata consists of three subphyla: Urochordata, represented by tunicates; Cephalochordata, represented by lancelets; and Craniata, which includes Vertebrata. Chordates are monophyletic, meaning that Chordata contains all and only the descendants of a single common ancestor which is itself a chordate, and that craniates' nearest relatives are cephalochordates. The Chordates arose from a more general superphylum Deuterostomia, which consists of Chordata, Hemichordata,Echinodermata and Xenoturbellida. The Deuterostomes split from Protostomes ~550 mya in the Cambrian era. It is supposed that Chordates arose in the Mid-Cambrian period, however there is controversy regarding that. The controversy arises mainly due to the fact that fossils of early chordates are very rare.	Chordates form a phylum of creatures that are based on a bilateral body plan, and is defined by having at some stage in their lives all of the following: 1) A notochord, 2) A dorsal neural tube 3) Pharyngeal slits 4) A muscular tail that extends backwards behind the anus and 5) An endostyle

Species Class Common name Common Hindi name Moschus chrysogaster Mammalia Alpine Musk Deer Crocidura andamanensis Mammalia Andaman shrew Crocidura hispida Mammalia Andaman spiny shrew … further results

Class	Taxon details	Taxon morphology details
Mammalia	Depending on classification scheme, there are approximately 5,500 species (5,490, according to the IUCN Red List) of mammals, distributed in about 1,200 genera, 153 families, 29 orders The early synapsid mammalian ancestors, a group which included pelycosaurs such as Dimetrodon, diverged from the amniote line that would lead to reptiles at the end of the Carboniferous period. Although they were preceded by many diverse groups of non-mammalian synapsids (sometimes misleadingly referred to as mammal-like reptiles), the first true mammals appeared 220 million years ago in the Triassic period.	Mammals are a class of air-breathing vertebrate animals characterized by the (1) possession of hair, (2) three middle ear bones -malleus, incus and stapes, (3) a neocortex, and (4) mammary glands functional in mothers with young. Mammalian fossils, however, are identified by the presence of the incus and malleus bones in the middle ear. Most mammals also possess sweat glands and specialized teeth, and the largest group of mammals, the placentals, have a placenta which feeds the offspring during gestation. The mammalian brain regulates endothermic and circulatory systems, including a four-chambered heart. Mammals range in size from the 30–40 millimeter (1- to 1.5-inch) Bumblebee Bat to the 33-meter (108-foot) Blue Whale. (Source:Wikipedia)

Species Order Common name Common Hindi name Balaenoptera musculus Cetacea Blue whale Tursiops truncatus Cetacea Bottle-nosed dolphin Balaena mysticetus Cetacea Bowhead whale, Greenland right whale, Arctic whale … further results

Species Family Common name Common Hindi name Balaenoptera musculus Balaenopteridae Blue whale Balaenoptera edeni Balaenopteridae Bryde's whale Balaenoptera physalus Balaenopteridae Finback whale, Fin whale, Razorback, Common rorqual … further results

Species Genus Common name Common Hindi name Balaenoptera musculus Balaenoptera Blue whale Balaenoptera edeni Balaenoptera Bryde's whale Balaenoptera physalus Balaenoptera Finback whale, Fin whale, Razorback, Common rorqual … further results

Based on classification

More details can be found in the Binomial Classification section.

Information from Encyclopedia of Life

{{#EoLOnlyEcology:328573|Physical description~Description}} If nothing is displayed above in this section, it means the EoL ID has not been defined OR the EoL API service is down. If former, please click on Edit with form button on top and follow the instructions for filling in the EoL ID

General morphology

Parameter	Value(s)	References See complete references in the References section at the end
General morphological features of the animal

Parameter	Value(s)	References See complete references in the References section at the end
IUCN Conservation Status	Endangered (See section External Links to find link to the page on IUCN website)	Wikipedia, IUCN Red List
Indian States in which the species has been documented
Locations at which the species has been documented
Biotic zones inhabited
Details about the habitat
Is this species native to India?
Is the species indigenous/endemic to Sub-Himalayan regions?
Is the species indigenous/endemic to Western Ghats?
Is the species indigenous/endemic to Eastern Ghats?

Animal is not native or native status not filled in

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Information from Encyclopedia of Life

{{#EoLOnlyEcology:328573|Reproduction~Lifespan, longevity, and ageing~Food Habits~Functional adaptation~Behavior}}

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Parameter	Value(s)	References See complete references in the References section at the end
Life cycle
Life expectancy
Food habits and feeding strategies
Functional adaptations
Behavior
Pests and Diseases

Information from Encyclopedia of Life

{{#EoLOnlyEcology:328573|Conservation Status~Threats~Conservation}}

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Parameter	Value(s)	References See complete references in the References section at the end
IUCN Status	Endangered (See section External Links to find link to the page on IUCN website)
Conservation sanctuaries in India
Details of threats to conservation of this species
Means of management of conservation, national and international laws

Parameter	Value(s)	References See complete references in the References section at the end
Does this species have any cultural significance?
Religions which mention/give significance to this species
Cultural and religious occasions when this species is used
Details of historical, cultural and mythological use

Pubmed Word cloud

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{{#queryDB:taxonomy |Balaenoptera physalus }}

• If there is an error message above, it means that there is no retrievable information available on NCBI
  
• If the number of nucleotide sequences is less than 100, very little genomic work has been done on this species. A respectable number of nucleotide sequences is above 500.
• Most of the nucleotide sequences may come from three sources:

1. Studies on single genes, where people try to sequence genes such as some specific dehydrogenases important,say, for tannin production
2. Sequences of Ribosomal Internal Transcribed Spacer, whose sequence is used for generating molecular phylogenetic trees to establish species relationships
3. Expressed Sequence Tags (ESTs) which can tell about which genes are present and expressed in the species at a particular time in the given tissue

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References

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