Right whale

Right whales[2] Temporal range: Miocene–recent[1] PreꞒ Ꞓ O S D C P T J K Pg N
Southern right whale breaching
Size compared to an average human
Scientific classification
Domain:	Eukaryota
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Mammalia
Order:	Artiodactyla
Infraorder:	Cetacea
Family:	Balaenidae
Genus:	Eubalaena Gray, 1864
Type species
Eubalaena australis Desmoulins, 1822
Species
E. australis – Southern (Desmoulins, 1822) †E. ianitrix Bisconti, Lambert, and Bosselaers, 2017[3] E. glacialis – North Atlantic (Müller, 1776)[4] E. japonica – North Pacific (Lacépède, 1818)[5] †E. shinshuensis Kimura & Narita, 2007[6]
E. glacialis ranges   E. australis range   E. japonica range
Synonyms
Baloena Robineau, 1989 Halibalaena Gray, 1873 Hunterius Gray, 1866 Hunterus Gray, 1864 Macleayanus Marschall, 1873 Macleayius Gray, 1865

The right whales (Eubalaena spp.), also known as the black whales are baleen whales with bow-shaped lower jaw and a head that is up to one-quarter of the body length. The head is hairier than most whales; up to 300 hairs are found on the tip of the lower jaw and 100 are on the upper jaw. There are also callosities (a series of horny growths) behind the blowhole, on the chin, above the eyes, on the lower lip, and on the rostrum (the beak-like upper jaw).

1. ↑ "Fossilworks". Archived from the original on 2021-01-15. Retrieved 2021-03-03.
2. ↑ 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.
3. ↑ Bisconti M, Lambert O, Bosselaers M. (2017) Revision of “Balaena” belgica reveals a new right whale species, the possible ancestry of the northern right whale, Eubalaena glacialis, and the ages of divergence for the living right whale species. PeerJ 5:e3464 https://doi.org/10.7717/peerj.3464
4. ↑ Reilly, S.B.; Bannister, J.L.; Best, P.B.; Brown, M.; Brownell, R.L. Jr.; Butterworth, D.S.; Clapham, P.J.; Cooke, J.; Donovan, G.P.; Urbán, J.; et al. (2008). "Eubalaena glacialis". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2008. Retrieved 30 September 2012.old-form url
5. ↑ Reilly, S.B.; Bannister, J.L.; Best, P.B.; Brown, M.; Brownell, R.L. Jr.; Butterworth, D.S.; Clapham, P.J.; Cooke, J.; Donovan, G.P.; Urbán, J.; et al. (2008). "Eubalaena japonica". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2008. Retrieved 30 September 2012.old-form url
6. ↑ Kimura, T.; Narita, K. (2007). "A new species of Eubalaena (Cetacea: Mysticeti: Balaenidae) from the Gonda Formation (latest Miocene-early Pliocene) of Japan". Bulletin of the Gunma Museum of Natural History. 11: 15–27.