Is a humpback whale a toothed whale or a baleen whale?

The humpback whale is a toothed whale that belongs to the suborder Mysticeti. It is usually called a "humpback whale" and its scientific name is Balaenoptera physalus. The suborder Baleen whales refers to those mammals that belong to the order Artiodactyla cetaceans, also known as the order Baleen whales or the superfamily Baleen whales, and the other part of the superfamily Toothed whales.

Humpback whales are a type of toothed whale, and whales are usually divided into two categories: toothed whales and baleen whales.

1. Toothed whale:

• Toothed whales hunt with their teeth, allowing them to eat prey much smaller than fish. Their teeth are usually well-developed and are used for grabbing and biting prey. Famous toothed whales include sperm whales, killer whales, mountain fish and porpoises.

2. Baleen whale:

• Baleen whales have no teeth, but instead have a horny organ called Varroa's baleen, which is used to filter plankton in the sea. They are usually large and feed on plankton, such as planktonic crustaceans, small fish, etc. Famous baleen whales include blue whales, humpback whales, spotted whales and arctic whales.

Although the humpback whale belongs to the suborder baleen whales, as a toothed whale, it has a prominent dorsal fin and an elongated body. Humpback whales are widely distributed in temperate and extremely temperate waters of the world's oceans. They are the second largest animal in the world, second only to the blue whale. They usually feed on plankton and have excellent swimming abilities. They migrate towards equatorial areas and in summer to cooler polar waters.

To sum up, the humpback whale is a type of toothed whale. Although it belongs to the baleen whale suborder, its ecological habits and feeding habits are closer to those of baleen whales, filtering plankton as its main food source.

animal tags： whale