AnAge entry for Balaenoptera musculus

Classification (HAGRID: 01934)

Taxonomy: Kingdom: Animalia
    Phylum: Chordata
        Class: Mammalia (Taxon entry)
            Order: Cetacea (Taxon entry)
                Family: Balaenopteridae
                    Genus: Balaenoptera
Species: Balaenoptera musculus
Common name: Blue whale
Synonyms: Sibbaldius sulfureus, Balaena musculus

Maximum longevity: 110 years (wild)
Source: ref. 1
Sample size: Medium
Data quality: Acceptable
Observations: The blue whale is the largest animal on earth. Its gestation period is short when considering its size. One possible explanation is that longer gestation periods would mean that the young would be born in the season spent in the season spent in cold waters [0434]. It is estimated that these animals live over 100 years.

: No information is available on life history. Please contact us if you wish to suggest or contribute data.

No information on metabolism is available.

[0610] Ernest (2003), Life history characteristics of placental non-volant mammals
[0001] Carey and Judge (2000), Longevity Records: Life Spans of Mammals, Birds, Amphibians, Reptiles, and Fish
[0434] Ronald Nowak (1999), Walker's Mammals of the World
[0538] Don Wilson and Sue Ruff (1999), The Smithsonian Book of North American Mammals
[0441] William Burt et al. (1998), A Field Guide to Mammals
[0455] Virginia Hayssen et al. (1993), Asdell's Patterns of Mammalian Reproduction: A Compendium of Species-Specific Data
[0680] Wootton (1987), The effects of body mass, phylogeny, habitat, and trophic level on mammalian age at first reproduction