Known whale, dolphin, and porpoise species
Cetacea is an infraorder that comprises the 94 species of whales , dolphins , and porpoises . It is divided into toothed whales (Odontoceti) and baleen whales (Mysticeti), which diverged from each other in the Eocene some 50 million years ago (mya). Cetaceans are descended from land-dwelling hoofed mammals, and the now extinct archaeocetes represent the several transitional phases from terrestrial to completely aquatic.[ 1] Historically, cetaceans were thought to have descended from the wolf-like mesonychians , but cladistic analyses confirm their placement with even-toed ungulates in the order Cetartiodactyla.[ 2] [ 3] [ 4] [ 5] [ 6]
Whale populations were drastically reduced in the 20th century from intensive whaling , which led to a moratorium on hunting by the International Whaling Commission in 1982.[ 7] Smaller cetaceans are at risk of accidentally getting caught by fishing vessels using, namely, seine fishing , drift netting , or gill netting operations.[ 8]
^ Jamieson, Barrie G. M. (2016-04-19). Miller, Debra L. (ed.). Reproductive Biology and Phylogeny of Cetaceans . Vol. 7. CRC Press. p. 111. ISBN 978-1-4398-4257-7 .
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^ Price, SA.; Bininda-Emonds, OR.; Gittleman, JL. (2005). "A complete phylogeny of the whales, dolphins and even-toed hoofed mammals – Cetartiodactyla". Biol Rev Camb Philos Soc . 80 (3): 445– 473. doi :10.1017/s1464793105006743 . PMID 16094808 . S2CID 45056197 .
^ Montgelard, C.; Catzeflis, FM.; Douzery, E. (1997). "Phylogenetic relationships of artiodactyls and cetaceans as deduced from the comparison of cytochrome b and 12S RNA mitochondrial sequences" . Molecular Biology and Evolution . 14 (5): 550– 559. doi :10.1093/oxfordjournals.molbev.a025792 . PMID 9159933 .
^ Spaulding, M.; O'Leary, MA.; Gatesy, J. (2009). "Relationships of Cetacea -Artiodactyla- Among Mammals: Increased Taxon Sampling Alters Interpretations of Key Fossils and Character Evolution" . PLOS ONE . 4 (9): e7062. Bibcode :2009PLoSO...4.7062S . doi :10.1371/journal.pone.0007062 . PMC 2740860 . PMID 19774069 .
^ "Cetacean Species and Taxonomy" . IUCN-SSC: Cetacean Specialist Group . Retrieved December 14, 2015 .
^ Beckman, Daniel (2013). "Conservation of Cetaceans" . Marine Environmental Biology and Conservation . Jones and Bartlett Learning. p. 328. ISBN 978-0-7637-7350-2 .
^ Clover, Charles (2008). The End of the Line: How Overfishing is Changing the World and what We Eat . University of California Press. ISBN 978-0-520-25505-0 .