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Balaenoptera musculus  (Linnaeus, 1758)
Taxonomic Serial No.: 180528

(Download Help) Balaenoptera musculus TSN 180528

 Taxonomy and Nomenclature
       
  Kingdom: Animalia  
  Taxonomic Rank: Species  
  Synonym(s): Sibbaldius sulfureus Cope, 1869
  
    Balaena musculus Linnaeus, 1758
  
  Common Name(s): Blue Whale [English]
  
    Ballena azul [Spanish]
  
    rorqual bleu [French]
  
       
  Taxonomic Status:    
  Current Standing: valid  
       
  Data Quality Indicators:    
  Record Credibility Rating: verified - standards met  
       

 Taxonomic Hierarchy
       
 KingdomAnimalia  – Animal, animaux, animals  
    SubkingdomBilateria  – triploblasts  
       InfrakingdomDeuterostomia   
          PhylumChordata  – cordés, cordado, chordates  
             SubphylumVertebrata  – vertebrado, vertébrés, vertebrates  
                InfraphylumGnathostomata   
                   SuperclassTetrapoda   
                      ClassMammalia Linnaeus, 1758 – mammifères, mamífero, mammals  
                         SubclassTheria Parker and Haswell, 1897  
                            InfraclassEutheria Gill, 1872  
                               OrderCetacea Brisson, 1762 – baleines, cétacés, dauphins, mammfères marins, marsouins, baleia, cetáceo, golfinho, cetaceans, whales, dolphins, marine mammals, porpoises  
                                  SuborderMysticeti Flower, 1864 – baleen whales  
                                     FamilyBalaenopteridae Gray, 1864 – rorquals  
                                        GenusBalaenoptera Lacépède, 1804 – rorquals, finback whales, baleen whales  
                                           SpeciesBalaenoptera musculus (Linnaeus, 1758) – Blue Whale, Ballena azul, rorqual bleu  
    Direct Children:  
                                              Subspecies Balaenoptera musculus brevicauda Ichihara, 1966 – Pygmy Blue Whale 
                                              Subspecies Balaenoptera musculus indica Blyth, 1859 – Great Indian Rorqual, Northern Indian Ocean blue whale 
                                              Subspecies Balaenoptera musculus intermedia Burmeister, 1871 – Southern Blue Whale, Antarctic blue whale 
                                              Subspecies Balaenoptera musculus musculus (Linnaeus, 1758) – Northern Blue Whale 
       

 References
       
  Expert(s):    
  Expert: Alfred L. Gardner  
  Notes: Curator of North American mammals and Chief of Mammal Section, National Biological Service, Smithsonian Institution, National Museum of Natural History, Washington, DC, USA   
  Reference for: Balaenoptera musculus    
       
  Expert: Dr. James G. Mead  
  Notes: Vertebrate Zoology, National Museum of Natural History, Washington, DC 20560   
  Reference for: Balaenoptera musculus    
       
  Other Source(s):    
  Source: CDP, database (version 1999)  
  Acquired: 2003   
  Notes:    
  Reference for: Blue Whale[English], rorqual bleu [French]   
       
  Source: Comisión Nacional para el Conocimiento y Uso de la Biodiversidad, database (version undefined)  
  Acquired: 2001   
  Notes: CONABIO: (http://www.conabio.gob.mx/)   
  Reference for: Ballena azul[Spanish]   
       
  Source: List of Marine Mammal Species and Subspecies, website (version Aug 2018)  
  Acquired: 2019   
  Notes: Committee on Taxonomy. 2018. List of marine mammal species and subspecies. Society for Marine Mammalogy, www.marinemammalscience.org, consulted on 16 April 2019   
  Reference for: Balaenoptera musculus, Blue Whale [English]   
       
  Source: List of Marine Mammal Species and Subspecies (2023), website (version Nov 2023)  
  Acquired: 2023   
  Notes: Committee on Taxonomy. 2023. List of marine mammal species and subspecies. Society for Marine Mammalogy, www.marinemammalscience.org, consulted on 13 Nov 2023   
  Reference for: Balaenoptera musculus, Blue Whale [English]   
       
  Source: NODC Taxonomic Code, database (version 8.0)  
  Acquired: 1996   
  Notes:    
  Reference for: Balaenoptera musculus   
       
  Publication(s):    
  Author(s)/Editor(s): Banks, R. C., R. W. McDiarmid, and A. L. Gardner  
  Publication Date: 1987   
  Article/Chapter Title: Checklist of Vertebrates of the United States, the U.S. Territories, and Canada   
  Journal/Book Name, Vol. No.: Resource Publication, no. 166   
  Page(s): 79   
  Publisher: United States Department of the Interior Fish and Wildlife Service   
  Publication Place: Washington, D.C., USA   
  ISBN/ISSN:    
  Notes:    
  Reference for: Balaenoptera musculus   
       
  Author(s)/Editor(s): Mead, James G., and Robert L. Brownell, Jr. / Wilson, Don E., and DeeAnn M. Reeder, eds.  
  Publication Date: 2005   
  Article/Chapter Title: Order Cetacea   
  Journal/Book Name, Vol. No.: Mammal Species of the World: A Taxonomic and Geographic Reference, 3rd ed., vol. 1   
  Page(s): 723-743   
  Publisher: Johns Hopkins University Press   
  Publication Place: Baltimore, Maryland, USA   
  ISBN/ISSN: 0-8018-8221-4   
  Notes:    
  Reference for: Balaenoptera musculus, Blue Whale [English]   
       
  Author(s)/Editor(s): Rice, Dale W.  
  Publication Date: 1998   
  Article/Chapter Title: Marine Mammals of the World: Systematics and Distribution   
  Journal/Book Name, Vol. No.: Special Publications of the Society for Marine Mammals, no. 4   
  Page(s): ix + 231   
  Publisher: The Society for Marine Mammalogy   
  Publication Place: Lawrence, Kansas, USA   
  ISBN/ISSN: 1-891276-03-4   
  Notes:    
  Reference for: Balaenoptera musculus   
       
  Author(s)/Editor(s): Wilson, Don E., and DeeAnn M. Reeder, eds.  
  Publication Date: 1993   
  Article/Chapter Title:    
  Journal/Book Name, Vol. No.: Mammal Species of the World: A Taxonomic and Geographic Reference, 2nd ed., 3rd printing   
  Page(s): xviii + 1207   
  Publisher: Smithsonian Institution Press   
  Publication Place: Washington, DC, USA   
  ISBN/ISSN: 1-56098-217-9   
  Notes: Corrections were made to text at 3rd printing   
  Reference for: Balaenoptera musculus   
       
  Author(s)/Editor(s): Wilson, Don E., and F. Russell Cole  
  Publication Date: 2000   
  Article/Chapter Title:    
  Journal/Book Name, Vol. No.: Common Names of Mammals of the World   
  Page(s): xiv + 204   
  Publisher: Smithsonian Institution Press   
  Publication Place: Washington, DC, USA   
  ISBN/ISSN: 1-56098-383-3   
  Notes: With contributions by Bernadette N. Graham, Adam P. Potter, and Mariana M. Upmeyer   
  Reference for: Balaenoptera musculus, Blue Whale [English]   
       
  Author(s)/Editor(s): Wilson, Don E., and Sue Ruff, eds.  
  Publication Date: 1999   
  Article/Chapter Title:    
  Journal/Book Name, Vol. No.: The Smithsonian Book of North American Mammals   
  Page(s): xxv + 750   
  Publisher: Smithsonian Institution Press   
  Publication Place: Washington, DC, USA   
  ISBN/ISSN: 1-56098-845-2   
  Notes:    
  Reference for: Balaenoptera musculus   
       
  Author(s)/Editor(s): Würsig, Bernd, J. G. M. Thewissen, and Kit M. Kovacs, eds.  
  Publication Date: 2018   
  Article/Chapter Title:    
  Journal/Book Name, Vol. No.: Encyclopedia of Marine Mammals, 3rd edition   
  Page(s): xxxi + 1157   
  Publisher: Elsevier   
  Publication Place: Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA   
  ISBN/ISSN: 978-0-12-8043271   
  Notes: Species and classification provided on pages xxix-xxxi   
  Reference for: Balaenoptera musculus, Blue Whale [English]   
       

 Geographic Information
       
  Geographic Division: Antarctica/Southern Ocean  
    East Pacific  
    Eastern Atlantic Ocean  
    Indo-West Pacific  
    Western Atlantic Ocean  
       
  Jurisdiction/Origin: Continental US, Native  
    Canada, Native  
    Alaska, Native  
 

 

    

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