Personal gallery
 
 
a web page by Don Roberson
 
 

MAMMALS
Families & Subfamilies of the World

page seven — Cetaceans

 
 
#
FAMILY
[Subfamily]
Photo
date/site
1
BALAENIDAE
Right & Bowhead Whales

Southern
Right Whale
Eubalaena australis

Cheyne Bay,
W. Australia
(July 2008)

mother with small calf

2

BALAENOPTERIDAE
Baleen Whales

three examples
(but two photos of one)

Blue
Whale
Balaenoptera musculus

Monterey Bay,
California, USA
(Oct 2017)

2 large adults, possibly a pair; Blue is the largest rorqual

 

 

 

 

Common
Minke Whale
Balaenoptera acutorostrata

North Atlantic,
near Svalbard
(July 2013)

Minke is the smallest rorqual

 

 

 

 

 

Humpback
Whale
Megaptera novaeangliae

Monterey Bay,
California, USA
(May 2008)

featuring a breaching adult

 

 

Humpback
Whale
Megaptera novaeangliae

a particularly
close encounter

Monterey Bay,
California, USA
(Sep 2007)

 

 

 

 

3

ESCHRICHTIIDAE
Gray Whale

Gray
Whale
Eschrichtius robustus

Monterey Bay,
California, USA
(Jan 2001)

 

4

DELPHINIDAE
Oceanic Dolphins

four examples

Pacific White-sided Dolphin Lagenorhynchus obliquidens

Monterey Bay,
California, USA
(Sep 2010)

full body leap

 

 

 

 

Northern Right-whale Dolphin Lissodelphis borealis

Monterey Bay,
California, USA
(Sep 2000)

 

 

 

 

Striped
Dolphin

Stenella
coeruleoalba

Eastern Tropical
Pacific at ~ 17°N, 112°W
(Aug 1989)

mother &
small calf

 

 

 

Orca
(Killer Whale)
Orcinus orca

Monterey Bay,
California, USA
(Jan 2001)

adult male (huge fin) with female and calf

 

5

MONODONTIDAE
Beluga & Narwhal

Beluga
Delphinapterus leucas

just off Churchill, Manitoba, Canada
(July 1988)

6

PHOCOENIDAE
Porpoises

Dall's Porpoise
Phocoenoides dalli

Kenai Fjords NP, Alaska, USA
(July 2011)

9
PHYSETERIDAE
Sperm Whale

Sperm Whale
Physeter macrocephalus

adult male and (possibly) female

Eastern Tropical Pacific ~ 3°S, 83°W
(Oct 1989)

10
KOGIIDAE
Pygmy & Dwarf Sperm Whales

Dwarf Sperm Whale
Kogia sima

off Dominica in the Caribbean
(Mar 2000)

11

INIIDAE
Amazon River Dolphins

Bota (Pink River Dolphin)
Inia geoffrensis

Amazon R., nr Leticia, Colombia
(July 1975)

In those pre-digital days, I only managed a photo of the backs of two Bota

12

ZIPHIIDAE
Beaked Whales

two examples

Cuvier's Beaked Whale
Ziphius cavirostris

adult male

Eastern Tropical Pacific ~ 9°N, 87°W
(Nov 1989)

 

 

 

 

Baird's
Beaked Whale

Berardius bairdii

Monterey Bay, California, USA

two shots: pod at surface & a head exposed

 

 
     
 
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ADDENDUM — some thoughts about this project

    This project presents photos of mammals I've observed, organized by family, subfamily, or tribe. The mammal families I've encountered but not yet photographed include: Ornithoryhynchidae [Platypus], Didelphidae [Opossums], Dasyuridae [Carniverous Marsupials], Pseudocheiridae [Ringtail Possums & Greater Gliders], Petauridae [Striped Possum & Lesser Gliders], Hypsiprymnodontidae [Rat Kangaroo], Macroscelididae [Sengis], Dasypodidae [Long-nosed Armadillos], Cynocephalidae [Colugos], Cheirogaleidae [Mouse-Lemurs & relates], Gliridae [Dormice], Pedetidae [Spring-hares], Echimyidae [Bamboo Rats], Echimyidae [Hutias, Coypu, & Spiny-rats], Erinaceidae [Gymnures], Rhinolophidae [Horseshoe Bats], Hipposideridae [Old World Leaf-nosed Bats], Mormoopidae [Mustached Bats], and Miniopteridae [Long-fingered Bats], plus some fine subfamilies (e.g., Protelinae [Aardwolf] among the Hyaenidae).
    At this project's initial posting (May 2020, during the Covid-19 lock-down), there were examples of 82 families, plus various subfamilies and tribes. In searching for photos in my collection, I tried to emphasize biodiversity by posting multiple genera within families and subfamilies (sometimes up to 5 examples each) and to illustrate a geographic spread of examples. There are photos as recent as May 2020 and those in the past back in 1973. Since I didn't move to a digital camera until 2005, of necessary all photos prior to that were digitized from slides.
    There are about 50 additional mammal families that I've not yet encountered, including some highly desirable beasts (e.g, Manidae [Pangolins], Daubentoniidae [Aye-aye], and Dugongidae [Dugong]). I've also not seen a wild Camelidae. I may see all the bird families of the world but I'll never see all the mammal families. But it is fun to think about.
    There are other ways to think about mammal-watching beyond the strictures of mammalian phylogeny. Many serious mammal-watchers, like many of most focused world birders, are interested in finding as many different species as possible. Excluding now-extinct species, one recent listing had about 6400 species of mammals. There are over 1500 rodents and about 1200 bats that together comprise about 42% of all mammals. Thus my personal list of 530 mammals (just 8% of all mammals) is a mere pittance. [By contrast my list of 6300 birds represents about 60% of all bird species].
    My favorite way to think about global mammal-watching is to organize travel, to the extent time and money permits, in search of "The 50 Best Mammals in the World" — one person's stratified list of the most unique, spectacular, and/or desirable large mammals. My thinking about these have evolved over time but, in general, most of the choices have survived occasional realignments. Although some are exceeding rare and difficult, rarity alone has never been my primary consideration. There are some iconic mammals that should be on every naturalist's list of great mammals, even though they are not necessarily difficult if one can just get to where they occur (e.g., Lion or Brown Bear). Some of these iconic mammals are also featured in my list of 15 "monsters of god" — those alpha predators that, should they think of you at all, may think of of you as meat (a project arising from David Quammen's (2003) book of that name). As of this writing (May 2020), I've enjoyed encounters with all the mammalian "monsters of god," and I'd seen 29 of my "Best 50" choices among mammals (58%). I'm already looking forward to the next one . . . .
    I thank Rita Carratello, Jon Hall, and Murray Lord for their company in the field and their reviews of these pages. For anything you need to know about mammal watching, see Jon Hall's outstanding "Mammalwatching" website!

 
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TO MAMMAL FAMILIES 3: Rodents
TO MAMMAL FAMILIES 6: Hogs to Antelopes
Taxonomy — based primarily on Jon Hall's "Mammal-Watching" checklist (2020) used by Scythebill
CREDITS — see some credits in the box above; all photos & text are © Don Roberson
except as otherwise indicated
 
  page created 16-21 May 2020  
 
all text & photos © Don Roberson, except as otherwise indicated; all rights reserved