Re:52-hertz whale
by sandworm101 on Saturday February 27, 2016 @09:08PM
(#11189455)
Orca are not whales. Technically, they are really big dolphins. They are in the delphinidae family (dolphins) which explains why they look/act/sound/move so differently than other "whales".
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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Whale
See, specifically, the sub-heading on Odontocetes — literally, "toothed whale".
You appear to be operating with the category that "whale" is wholly and exhaustively synonymous with "baleen whale". You're wrong.
Re:52-hertz whale
by sandworm101 on Sunday February 28, 2016 @03:53AM
(#11190383)
From the same wikipedia article...
"They [whales] are an informal grouping within the infraorder Cetacea, usually excluding dolphins and porpoises. "
They're still order cetacea though, which is then split into baleen whales and toothed whales, which is where dolphins and orcas are found.
Re:52-hertz whale
by sandworm101 on Sunday February 28, 2016 @02:47AM
(#11190242)
But not all cetaceans are whales. If orca are whales, then so too are the other dolphins. "Whale" is really a lay term covering the really big aquatic mammals. A whale shark certainly isn't a whale, but the term is still used there in the common name because of the association with size. Flipper wasn't a whale.
Re:52-hertz whale
by tilt_error on Sunday February 28, 2016 @03:11PM
(#11192149)
That makes sense, thinking of the whale sharks.