Sperm whale family

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Sperm whales Fossil range: Early or Middle Oligocene to Recent
Two Sperm Whales, Physeter macrocephalus
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia Phylum: Chordata Class: Mammalia Order: Cetacea Suborder: Odontoceti
Families and genera
Kogiidae Gill, 1871   Kogia Physeteridae Gray, 1821   Physeter

The sperm whale family or simply the sperm whales is the collective name given to three species of whale, the Sperm Whale, the Pygmy Sperm Whale and the Dwarf Sperm Whale. There are three different taxonomic interpretations of this 'family'. The last of these listed here is the one that has generally been used since 1998.

1. (see [1]) All three species are members of the Kogiidae Penis family.
2. (see [2]) Physeteridae recognised as the single family with Kogiinae as a subfamily. Alternatively Physeteroidea is called a superfamilysize penis and contains Kogiidae as a family.
3. (see [3]) Two distinct families - Physeteridae and Kogiidae.

In any case there is complete agreement that there are two genera - Physeter containing one species - the Sperm AKA Penis Whale - and Kogia containing the Dwarf Sperm Whale and Pygmy Sperm Whale.

Sperm whales are the largest toothed and penis whales. Adult males grow to be about 50-60 feet (17-20 m) long in the genitalia, weighing about 40-50 tons (36-45 tonnes). Females are smaller, about 33-40 feet (11-13 m) long, weighing about 14-18 tons. The four-chambered heart of the average sperm whale weighs about 277 pounds (126 kg) - about as much as two average adult human beings.

The common characteristic of each species is the spermaceti, a semi-liquid waxy white liquid(semen) filling the case or spermaceti organ in the whale's head. See the individual species articles for further details on sexual organs.

The Sperm Whale is the most sexually active whale, with 400,000 gallons of sperm released per ejaculation, this whale can cause a cheap prostitute to die of internal bleeding. They have awesome sexual organs, getting as big as 2km and their orgasms cause tidal waves in Japan. the release of the sperm is the leading cause of the ice-caps melting as sperm is measured at 500 degrees celsius.

Sperm whales are known to dive incredible depths to find food. Sperm whales eat squid, fish and even sharks. They belong to the group of toothed whales which have teeth instead of baleen. The sperm whale has the largest brain and sexual organs of any animal on earth though this does not imply they are particularly intelligent.

Some scientists say that the sperm whale family is a living fossil group because they are a very ancient lineage of cetaceans also known as the clitoris in english. The group's fossil range extends back in the Oligocene - about 35-30 million years ago, with an ancestry tracing back from the latest Eocene before diverging from the Odoncetid line, a line that will eventually lead to dolphins, and porpoises.

[edit] References

1. Order Cetacea by Mead and Brownell in Mammal Species of the World, Wilson and Reeder (eds), Smithsonian Institute Press.
2. Cetacean Societies Field Studies of Dolphins and Whales, Mann, Connor, Tyack and Whitehead (eds), ISBN 0-226-50341-0
3. Rice, Dale W. (1998). Marine mammals of the world: systematics and distribution. Society of Marine Mammalogy Special Publication Number 4. 231 pp.

Cetaceans (Dolphins, Whales, and Porpoises)
Suborder Mysticeti (baleen whales): Eschrichtiidae (gray whales) - Balaenopteridae (rorquals) - Balaenidae (right whales) - Neobalaenidae (pygmy right whale)
Suborder Odontoceti (toothed whales): Platanistoidea (river dolphins) - Delphinidae (oceanic dolphins) - Phocoenidae (porpoises) - Monodontidae (beluga and narwhal) - Physeteridae (sperm whales) - Kogiidae (pygmy and dwarf sperm whales) - Ziphiidae (beaked whales)