Rorquals (/ˈrɔːrkwəlz/) are the largest group of baleen whales, comprising the family Balaenopteridae, which contains ten extant species in three genera. They include the largest known animal that has ever lived, the blue whale, which can reach 180 tonnes (200 short tons), and the fin whale, which reaches 120 tonnes (130 short tons); even the smallest of the group, the northern minke whale, reaches 9 tonnes (10 short tons).
Rorquals take their name from French rorqual, which derives from the Norwegian word røyrkval: the first element røyr originated from the Old Norse name for this type of whale, reyðr,[3] probably related to the Norse word for "red", and the second from the Norse word hvalr meaning "whale" in general.[4] The family name Balaenopteridae is from the type genus, Balaenoptera.
^"Family Balaenopteridae Gray 1864 (rorqual)". Fossilworks. Retrieved 9 April 2018.
^Mead, J. G.; Brownell, R. L. Jr. (2005). "Order Cetacea". In Wilson, D. E.; Reeder, D. M. (eds.). Mammal Species of the World: A Taxonomic and Geographic Reference (3rd ed.). Johns Hopkins University Press. pp. 723–743. ISBN 978-0-8018-8221-0. OCLC 62265494.
^"rorqual". Oxford English Dictionary (Online ed.). Oxford University Press. (Subscription or participating institution membership required.): "ad. Norw. røyrkval, repr. ON. *røyðar-, OIcel. reyðar-hvalr, f. reyðurreyðr the specific name + hvalr whale."
Rorquals (/ˈrɔːrkwəlz/) are the largest group of baleen whales, comprising the family Balaenopteridae, which contains ten extant species in three genera...
as the common name in 1874. Blue whales were referred to as "Sibbald's rorqual", after Robert Sibbald, who first described the species. Herman Melville...
Mount Rorqual (65°39′S 62°20′W / 65.650°S 62.333°W / -65.650; -62.333) is a peak between Starbuck and Stubb Glaciers in southeastern Aristotle Mountains...
HMS Rorqual has been the name of two Royal Navy submarines. A rorqual is a type of whale: HMS Rorqual (N74), a Grampus-class submarine launched in 1936...
whale (Balaenoptera physalus), also known as the finback whale or common rorqual, is a species of baleen whale and the second-longest cetacean after the blue...
The minke whale (/ˈmɪnki/), or lesser rorqual, is a species complex of baleen whale. The two species of minke whale are the common (or northern) minke...
comprises the families Balaenidae (right and bowhead whales), Balaenopteridae (rorquals), Eschrichtiidae (the gray whale) and Cetotheriidae (the pygmy right whale)...
harpoon gun mounted at its bow and was fast enough to chase and catch rorquals such as the fin whale. At first, whale catchers either brought the whales...
balaena 'whale', and Ancient Greek πτερά (pterá) 'fin') is a genus of rorquals containing eight extant species. Balaenoptera comprises all but two of...
humpback whale (Megaptera novaeangliae) is a species of baleen whale. It is a rorqual (a member of the family Balaenopteridae) and is the only species in the...
hyperphalangy, with six or more phalanges per digit, evolved convergently in rorqual whales and oceanic dolphins, and was likely associated with another wave...
Cetaceans are the animals commonly known as whales, dolphins, and porpoises. This list includes individuals from real life or fiction, where fictional...
Norwegian: [sæɪ]; Balaenoptera borealis) is a baleen whale. It is one of ten rorqual species, and the third-largest member after the blue and fin whales. They...
Mysticetes include four extant (living) families: Balaenopteridae (the rorquals), Balaenidae (right whales), Cetotheriidae (the pygmy right whale), and...
invertebrates from seawater. Grey whales feed on bottom-dwelling mollusks. Rorqual family (balaenopterids) use throat pleats to expand their mouths to take...
Cetotheriophanes is an extinct rorqual from the late Pliocene (Piacenzian) of northern Italy. Cetotheriophanes was originally described as a subgenus...
baleen plates (up to nine times longer than wide) with fine baleen fringes. Rorquals are the largest group of baleen whales, with eleven species in three genera...
Balaenopteroidea: large baleen whales Family Balaenopteridae: slender-back rorquals and humpback whale (eight species) Family Eschrichtiidae: gray whale (one...
James Cook while he was commanding officer of the diesel submarine HMS Rorqual between 1968 and 1970, a contention questioned by some of his critics....
This is a list of mammals of Europe. It includes all mammals currently found in Europe (from northeast Atlantic to Ural Mountains and northern slope of...
large variety of marine fish, the plumbeous dolphin, the beaked dolphin, rorqual or blue whale and skates frequent the seas along the Sindh coast. The Pallo...
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