Cetacean intelligence
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Cetacean intelligence is the overall intelligence and derived cognitive ability of aquatic mammals belonging in the infraorder Cetacea (cetaceans), including baleen whales, porpoises, and dolphins. In 2014, a study found for first time that the long-finned pilot whale has more neocortical neurons than any mammal studied to date, including humans.
A female bottlenose dolphin performing with her trainer. They are considered one of the most intelligent cetaceans.
Brain of the sperm whale, considered the largest brain in the animal kingdom
Brain of a human (left), compared to that of a black rhinoceros (center) and a common dolphin (right)
Members of a southern resident orca family unit travelling in formation with the mother and youngest offspring in the centre
Toothed whale
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The toothed whales are a parvorder of cetaceans that includes dolphins, porpoises, and all other whales possessing teeth, such as the beaked whales and sperm whales. 73 species of toothed whales are described. They are one of two living groups of cetaceans, the other being the baleen whales (Mysticeti), which have baleen instead of teeth. The two groups are thought to have diverged around 34 million years ago (mya).
A whale as depicted by Conrad Gessner, 1587, in his Historiae animalium
Fossil of Squalodon
Pacific white-sided dolphins porpoising
Spectrogram of dolphin vocalizations. Whistles, whines, and clicks are visible as upside down V's, horizontal striations, and vertical lines, respectively.