Cetacean intelligence
Videos
Cetacean intelligence is the overall intelligence and derived cognitive ability of aquatic mammals belonging in the infraorder Cetacea, including baleen whales, porpoises, and dolphins. In 2014, a stu
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
Orca
Videos
The orca, or killer whale, is a toothed whale and the largest member of the oceanic dolphin family. The only extant species in the genus Orcinus, it is recognizable by its distinct pigmentation; being
Cetacean intelligence
…Sperm whales (Physeter macrocephalus) have the largest known brain mass of any extant animal, averaging 7.8 kg in mature males. Orcas (Orcinus orca) have the second largest known brain mass of any extant animal. (5.4-6.8 kg). Bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops truncatus) have an absolute…
Killerwhales jumping
Orcinus citoniensis fossil, an extinct species of the same genus, Museo Capellini in Bologna
Modern orca skeleton, Naturalis, Leiden
An orca leaps out of the water when swimming—a behaviour known as porpoising—in Hood Canal