Sperm Whale

Physeter macrocephalus Linnaeus 1758

Jakob Fahr cc-by-nc-4.0

Physeter macrocephalus (Sperm Whale) is a species of mammals in the family sperm whales. They are listed as vulnerable by IUCN and in cites appendix i. They are native to Arctic Ocean, Pacific Ocean, Atlantic Ocean, and Indian Ocean. They are carnivores. Individuals are known to live for 924 months and can grow to 16 m. Reproduction is viviparous. They rely on swimming and lift powered swimming to move around.

URI: http://eol.org/schema/terms/vulnerable
Definition: A taxon is Vulnerable when the best available evidence indicates that it meets any of the criteria A to E for Vulnerable, and it is therefore considered to be facing a high risk of extinction in the wild.
Source: http://apiv3.iucnredlist.org/api/v3/taxonredirect/41755

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URI: http://eol.org/schema/terms/CITES_I
Definition: Appendix I lists species that are the most endangered among CITES-listed animals and plants. They are threatened with extinction and CITES prohibits international trade in specimens of these species except when the purpose of the import is not commercial, for instance for scientific research. In these exceptional cases, trade may take place provided it is authorized by the granting of both an import permit and an export permit (or re-export certificate). Article VII of the Convention provides for a number of exemptions to this general prohibition.
Source: https://www.speciesplus.net/#/taxon_concepts/10761/legal

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URI: http://www.marineregions.org/mrgid/1906

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URI: http://www.marineregions.org/mrgid/1903

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URI: http://www.marineregions.org/mrgid/1902

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URI: http://www.marineregions.org/mrgid/1904

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URI: http://www.wikidata.org/entity/Q81875
Definition: organism that eats mostly or exclusively animal tissue

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URI: http://www.marinespecies.org/traits/Viviparous
Definition: 1) Producing live offspring from within the body of the parent (Lincoln et al., 1998). 2) Development of an embryo within the body of the parent, in part, resources passing directly from parent to embryo (Barnes et al., 2006).
Attribution: Lincoln, R., Boxshall, G. & Clark, P., 1998. A dictionary of ecology, evolution and systematics (2nd ed.). Cambridge: Cambridge University of Press. Barnes R.S.K., Calow P., Olive P.J.W., Golding, D.W, and Spicer, J.I. 2006. The invertebrates: a new synthesis, Oxford: Blackwell Science Ltd. http://www.marinespecies.org/traits/wiki/Traits:Viviparous

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URI: http://purl.obolibrary.org/obo/GO_0036268
Definition: Self-propelled movement of an organism from one location to another through water, often by means of active fin movement.

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URI: https://eol.org/schema/terms/lift_based_swimming
Definition: Hydrofoils, or fins, are used to push against the water to create a normal force to provide thrust, propelling the animal through water. The reduction of fin cross-sectional area helps to minimize drag, and therefore increase efficiency. Regardless of size of the animal, at any particular speed, maximum possible lift is proportional to (wing area) x (speed)<sup>2</sup>. Dolphins and whales have large, horizontal caudal hydrofoils, while many fish and sharks have vertical caudal hydrofoils.

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EOL has data for 64 attributes, including:

body shape
- URI: http://eol.org/schema/terms/BodyShape
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bilaterally symmetric
- URI: http://purl.obolibrary.org/obo/PATO_0001324
- Definition: being symmetric about a plane running from frontal end to caudal end (head to tail), and having nearly identical right and left halves
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diet breadth
- URI: http://eol.org/schema/terms/DietBreadth
- Definition: Number of dietary categories eaten by an organism.
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3
diet includes
- URI: http://eol.org/schema/terms/Diet
- Definition: Information about the items eaten by this organism.
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fish
- URI: https://www.wikidata.org/entity/Q152
- Definition: vertebrate animal that lives in water and (typically) has gills
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ecomorphological guild
- URI: http://eol.org/schema/terms/EcomorphologicalGuild
- Definition: organisms that share certain morphological traits due to adaptation to similar environments and ecological roles
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nectonic
- URI: http://www.marinespecies.org/traits/Nekton
- Definition: Active swimming organisms that live in the water column and are able to move independently of the water mass (adapted from Lincoln et al., 1998).
- Attribution: http://www.marinespecies.org/traits/wiki/Traits:Nekton
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first appearance
- URI: http://eol.org/schema/terms/FossilFirst
- Definition: The first appearance of this taxon in the fossil record.
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langhian age
- URI: http://resource.geosciml.org/classifier/ics/ischart/Langhian
- Attribution: International Chronostratigraphic Chart: http://www.stratigraphy.org/index.php/ics-chart-timescale
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habitat breadth
- URI: http://eol.org/schema/terms/HabitatBreadth
- Definition: Number of habitat layers used by an organism
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1
inter-birth interval
- URI: http://eol.org/schema/terms/InterBirthInterval
- Definition: The length of time between successive births of a female.
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1259 days
litters per year
- URI: http://eol.org/schema/terms/LittersPerYear
- Definition: Number of litters per female per year
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0.17
mating system
- URI: http://eol.org/schema/terms/MatingSystem
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polygynous
- URI: http://purl.obolibrary.org/obo/ECOCORE_00000065
- Definition: One male has an exclusive mating relationship with two or more females
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native range includes
- URI: http://eol.org/schema/terms/NativeRange
- Definition: Lists jurisdictions in which a given organism is a member of the undisturbed fauna or flora.
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Arctic Ocean
- URI: http://www.marineregions.org/mrgid/1906
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population group size
- URI: http://eol.org/schema/terms/PopulationGroupSize
- Definition: Number of individuals in a group that spends the majority of their time in a 24 hour cycle together
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11
prenatal development duration
- URI: http://eol.org/schema/terms/PrenatalDevelopmentDuration
- Definition: The duration of the development from fertilized, deposited or implanted egg to hatching/birth. Corresponds to egg incubation duration in oviparous animals and to gestation period duration in viviparous animals.
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502 days

Known occurrences, collected specimens and observations of Sperm whale. View this species on GBIF

Jakob Fahr cc-by-nc-4.0