Southern Blue Whale

Balaenoptera musculus intermedia Burmeister 1871

Balaenoptera musculus intermedia (Southern Blue Whale) is a subspecies of mammals in the family rorquals. They are listed as critically endangered by IUCN. They are carnivores. Individuals can grow to 32.6 m. They rely on lift powered swimming to move around.

URI: http://eol.org/schema/terms/criticallyEndangered
Definition: A taxon is Critically Endangered when the best available evidence indicates that it meets \r\nany of the criteria A to E for Critically Endangered, and it is therefore considered to be facing an extremely high risk of extinction in the wild
Source: http://apiv3.iucnredlist.org/api/v3/taxonredirect/41713

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URI: https://www.wikidata.org/entity/Q81875
Definition: organism that eats mostly or exclusively animal tissue
Attribution: Crustacean body sizes

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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 17 attributes, including:

Body symmetry
- URI: http://eol.org/schema/terms/body_symmetry
- Definition: overall repetitive or reflective pattern in the body of one individual of this taxon. eg: bilateral symmetry, rotational symmetry, radial symmetry
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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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auditory system
- URI: http://purl.obolibrary.org/obo/UBERON_0016490
- Definition: the sensory system for the sense of hearing
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otoliths
- URI: https://www.wikidata.org/entity/Q591800
- Definition: Inner-ear structure in vertebrates which detects acceleration and may detect acoustic signals
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body length
- URI: http://purl.obolibrary.org/obo/CMO_0000013
- Definition: A measurement of the longest dimension of a body, typically between two distinct ends of the body.
- Attribution: [database_cross_reference: Dorland:Dorlands_Illustrated_Medical_Dictionary--31st_Ed] [database_cross_reference: ISBN:978-1416049982]
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26.8 m
body mass
- URI: http://purl.obolibrary.org/obo/VT_0001259
- Definition: The amount of matter in the body of an organism.
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3 tons
cellularity
- URI: http://purl.obolibrary.org/obo/PATO_0001992
- Definition: An organismal quality inhering in a bearer by virtue of the bearers consisting cells. [ PATOC:GVG ]
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multicellular
- URI: http://purl.obolibrary.org/obo/PATO_0001993
- Definition: A cellularity quality inhering in a bearer by virtue of the bearers consisting of more than one cell. [ PATOC:GVG ]
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conservation status
- URI: http://rs.tdwg.org/ontology/voc/SPMInfoItems#ConservationStatus
- Definition: degree of conservation concern as assessed by a government agency or other recognized authority such as IUCN or CITES
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critically endangered
- URI: http://eol.org/schema/terms/criticallyEndangered
- Definition: A taxon is Critically Endangered when the best available evidence indicates that it meets \r\nany of the criteria A to E for Critically Endangered, and it is therefore considered to be facing an extremely high risk of extinction in the wild
- Attribution: http://www.iucnredlist.org/technical-documents/categories-and-criteria
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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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geographic distribution includes
- URI: http://eol.org/schema/terms/Present
- Definition: This organism is known to be present in this location or region. Not exclusive; other regions may also be reported.
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subantarctic
- URI: http://www.wikidata.org/entity/Q1141556
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habitat
- URI: http://rs.tdwg.org/dwc/terms/habitat
- Definition: A category or description of the habitat in which the Event occurred.
- Comment: Example: "oak savanna", "pre-cordilleran steppe"
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marine
- URI: http://purl.obolibrary.org/obo/ENVO_00000569
- Definition: A habitat that is in or on a sea or ocean containing high concentrations of dissolved salts and other total dissolved solids (typically >35 grams dissolved salts per litre).
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locomotion
- URI: http://purl.obolibrary.org/obo/GO_0040011
- Definition: Self-propelled movement of a cell or organism from one location to another.
- Attribution: [database_cross_reference: GOC:dgh]
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lift powered swimming
- 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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population trend
- URI: http://eol.org/schema/terms/population_trend
- Definition: i.e., increasing, decreasing, stable, or unknown
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Increasing
visual system
- URI: http://purl.obolibrary.org/obo/UBERON_0002104
- Definition: The sensory system subserving the sense of vision.
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lens eyes
- URI: https://eol.org/schema/terms/lens_eyes
- Definition: Relative to pinhole eyes, lens eyes have greatly improved resolution and image brightness. The lens converges incoming rays of light, thereby reducing the angle over which each photoreceptor receives light, and forming an image focused on the retina. Most lens eyes have "accommodation"; they can focus an image either by physically moving the lens toward or away from the retina or by using eye muscles to adjust the shape of the lens.
- Attribution: https://www.britannica.com/science/photoreception/Single-chambered-eyes#ref278819
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Known occurrences, collected specimens and observations of Southern Blue Whale. View this species on GBIF