| Description | The narwhal (Monodon monoceros), or narwhale, is a medium-sized toothed whale that possesses a large "tusk" from a protruding canine tooth. It lives year-round in the Arctic waters around Greenland, Canada, and Russia. It is one of two living species of whale in the family Monodontidae, along with the beluga whale. The narwhal males are distinguished by a long, straight, helical tusk, which is an elongated upper left canine. The narwhal was one of many species described by Carl Linnaeus in his publication Systema Naturae in 1758.
|
|---|
| Source Data | |
|---|
| Rank | genus |
|---|
| Taxonomy (GBIF,PBDB) | Life : Animalia : Chordata : Mammalia : Cetacea : Monodontidae : Monodon |
|---|
| Taxonomic Status (GBIF) | accepted |
|---|
Classification
(PBDB,GBIF) | |
|---|
| Common Name | narwhal |
|---|
| Scientific Name | Monodon Linnaeus, 1758 |
|---|
| Name Published In | Linnæus, Carolus. 1758. Systema naturae per regna tria naturae, secundum classes, ordines, genera, species, cum characteribus, differentiis, synonymis, locis. Laurentii Salvii, Holmiae. Vol. Tomus I, Editio decima, reformata: i-ii, 1-824. |
|---|
| Opinions (PBDB) | | Name | Rank | Opinion | Evidence | Author |
|---|
| Monodon | genus | belongs to Cete | stated without evidence | Linnaeus, 1758 | | Monodon | genus | belongs to Monodontidae | stated without evidence | Gray, 1821 | | Monodon | genus | belongs to Phocaenina | stated without evidence | Gray, 1825 | | Monodon | genus | belongs to Delphinidae | stated without evidence | Gray, 1846 | | Monodon | genus | belongs to Monoceratina | stated without evidence | Gray, 1846 | | Monodon | genus | belongs to Delphinidae | stated without evidence | Gray, 1850 | | Monodon | genus | belongs to Monodontidae | stated without evidence | Pictet, 1853 | | Monodon | genus | belongs to Phocaenina | stated without evidence | Gray, 1864 | | Monodon | genus | belongs to Delphinidae | stated with evidence | Gray, 1866 | | Monodon | genus | belongs to Beluginae | stated without evidence | Flower, 1867 | | Monodon | genus | belongs to Delphinidae | stated with evidence | Scammon and Cope, 1869 | | Monodon | genus | belongs to Belugidae | stated without evidence | Gray, 1870 | | Monodon | genus | belongs to Leucodelphini | stated without evidence | Brandt, 1873 | | Monodon | genus | belongs to Delphinidae | stated without evidence | Lydekker, 1887 | | Monodon | genus | belongs to Delphinapterinae | stated without evidence | Hay, 1902 | | Monodon | genus | belongs to Delphinidae | stated without evidence | Palmer, 1904 | | Monodon | genus | belongs to Beluginae | stated without evidence | Abel, 1905 | | Monodon | genus | belongs to Delphinidae | stated with evidence | Turner, 1912 | | Monodon | genus | belongs to Monodontinae | stated without evidence | Miller, 1923 | | Monodon | genus | belongs to Beluginae | stated without evidence | Zittel, 1925 | | Monodon | genus | belongs to Delphinapteridae | stated with evidence | Weber, 1928 | | Monodon | genus | belongs to Delphinidae | stated without evidence | Kellogg, 1928 | | Monodon | genus | belongs to Monodontinae | stated without evidence | Hay, 1930 | | Monodon | genus | belongs to Monodontidae | stated without evidence | Simpson, 1945 | | Monodon | genus | belongs to Monodontinae | stated without evidence | Ellerman and Morrisson-Scott, 1951 | | Monodon | genus | belongs to Monodontinae | stated with evidence | Kasuya, 1973 | | Monodon | genus | belongs to Monodontidae | stated without evidence | Reeves and Tracey, 1980 | | Monodon | genus | belongs to Monodontidae | implied | Carroll, 1988 | | Monodon | genus | belongs to Monodontinae | stated without evidence | de Muizon, 1988 | | Monodon | genus | belongs to Monodontidae | stated without evidence | Stewart and Stewart, 1989 | | Monodon | genus | belongs to Monodontinae | implied | McKenna and Bell, 1997 | | Monodon | genus | belongs to Monodontidae | stated without evidence | Rice, 1998 | | Monodon | genus | belongs to Monodontinae | stated without evidence | Fordyce and de Muizon, 2001 | | Monodon | genus | belongs to Cetacea | second hand | Sepkoski, 2002 | | Monodon | genus | belongs to Monodontidae | stated without evidence | Geisler and Sanders, 2003 | | Monodon | genus | belongs to Delphinapteridae | implied | Buchholtz and Schur, 2004 | | Monodon | genus | belongs to Monodontidae | stated without evidence | Mead and Brownell, 2005 | | Monodon | genus | belongs to Monodontidae | stated with evidence | Agnarsson and May-Collado, 2008 | | Monodon | genus | belongs to Monodontidae | stated without evidence | Berta, 2017 |
|
|---|
| Status (PBDB) | extant |
|---|
| Taxon Size (PBDB) | 2 |
|---|
| Extant Size (PBDB) | 2 (100%) |
|---|
| First Recorded Appearance | 16.0 - 3.6 Ma
Neogene |
|---|
| Environment | marine,freshwater (based on Odontoceti) |
|---|
| Motility | actively mobile (based on Cetacea) |
|---|
| Diet | piscivore (based on Monodontidae) |
|---|
| Reproduction | viviparous (based on Odontoceti) |
|---|
| Ontogeny | modification of parts (based on Cetacea) |
|---|
| Taphonomy | hydroxylapatite (based on Odontoceti) |
|---|
| Primary Reference (PBDB) | C. Linnaeus. 1758. Systema Naturae per Regna Tria Naturae, Secundum Classes, Ordines, Genera, Species, cum Characteribus, Differentiis, Synonymis, Locis. Editio Decima 1:1-824 |
|---|
| Common Name(s) | Narwhals, Narwhal |
|---|
| Wikipedia | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monodon |
|---|
| Linnaeus C. , Systema Naturae per Regna Tria Naturae, Secundum Classes, Ordines, Genera, Species, cum Characteribus, Differentiis, Synonymis, Locis. Editio Decima 1, 1-824 doi:10.5962/bhl.title.542 |
| Brisson M. J. , Regnum Animale in classes IX distributum, sive synopsis methodica, Ed. 2 |
| Lacépède B. , Histoire Naturelle des Cetacees |
| Illiger C. , Prodromus Systematis Mammalium et Avium |
| Gray J. E. On the natural arrangement of vertebrose animals, The London Medical Repository Monthly Journal and Review 15, 296-310 |
| Gray J. E. An outline of an attempt at the disposition of Mammalia into Tribes and Families, with a list of genera apparently appertaining to each Tribe, Annals of Philosophy, new series 10, 337-344 |
| Gray J. E. On the cetaceous animals, The zoology of the voyage of H. M. S. Erebus and Terror, under the command of Capt. Sir J. C. Ross, R. N., F. R. S., during the years 1839 to 1843 1 & 2, 1-53 |
| Gray J. E. , Catalogue of the Mammalia in the collection of the British Museum, with descriptions of all the species and figures of the genera. Part I. Cetacea, 1-153 |
| Pictet F. -J. , Traité de Paléontologie ou Histoire Naturelle des Animaux Fossiles Considérés dans Leurs Rapports Zoologiques et Géologiques [Treatise of Paleontology or the Natural History of Fossil Animals Considered in their Zoological and Geological Relationships] 1, xiv-584 |
| Gray J. E. On the Cetacea which have been observed in the seas surrounding the British Islands, Proceedings of the Scientific Meetings of the Zoological Society of London 1864, 195-248 |
| Gray J. E. , Catalogue of Seals and Whales in the British Museum, 1-402 |
| Flower W. H. Description of the skeleton of Inia geoffrensis and the skull of Pontoporia blainvillii, with remarks on the systematic position of these animals in the Order Cetacea, Transactions of the Zoological Society of London 6, 87-116 |
| Gray J. E. , Synopsis of the species of whales and dolphins in the Collection of the British Museum, 1-10 |
| Scammon C. M., Cope E. D. On the cetaceans of the western coast of North America, Proceedings of the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia 22, 13-63 |
| Gray J. E. Notes on the arrangement of the genera of delphinoid whales, Proceedings of the Scientific Meetings of the Zoological Society of London 1870, 772-773 |
| Brandt J. F. Untersuchungen über die fossilen und subfossilen cetaceen Europa's, Mémoires de L'Académie Impériale des Sciences de Saint-Petersbourg, Series 7 20 1, 1-372 |
| Lydekker R. , Catalogue of the Fossil Mammalia in the British Museum (Natural History) 5, 1-345 |
| Newton E. T. The vertebrata of the Pliocene deposits of Britain, Memoirs of the Geological Survey of the United Kingdom, 1-137 |
| Hay O. P. (1902) , Bibliography and Catalogue of the Fossil Vertebrata of North America. Bulletin of the United States Geological Survey 179, 1-868 |
| Palmer T. S. (1904) Index generum mammalium: a list of the genera and families of mammals, North American Fauna 23, 1-984 |
| Trouessart E. L. (1904) , Catalogus Mammalium Tam Viventium Quam Fossilium, Fourth Edition, 1-929 |
| Abel O. (1905) Les Odontocètes du Boldérien (Miocène Supérieur) D'Anvers, Mémoires du Musée royal D'Histoire Naturelle de Belgique 3, 1-155 |
| Miller G. S. (1923) The telescoping of the cetacean skull, Smithsonian Miscellaneous Collections 76 5, 1-70 |
| Hay O. P. (1930) Second Bibliography and Catalogue of the Fossil Vertebrata of North America, Carnegie Institution of Washington 390 II, 1-1074 |
| Simpson G. G. (1945) The principles of classification and a classification of mammals, Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History 85, 1-350 |
| Ellerman J. R., Morrisson-Scott T. C. S. (1951) , Checklist of Palaearctic and Indian Mammals 1758 to 1946, 1-810 |
| Fraser F. C., Purves P. E. (1960) Hearing in Cetaceans, Bulletin of the British Museum (Natural History) 7 1, 1-140 |
| Scheffer V. B., Rice D. W. (1963) A list of the marine mammals of the world, United States Fish and Wildlife Service Special Scientific Report - Fisheries 431, 1-12 |
| Carroll R. L. (1988) , Vertebrate Paleontology and Evolution, 1-698 |
| de Muizon C. (1988) Les relations phylogenetiques des Delphinida (Cetacea, Mammalia), Annales de Paleontologie 74 4, 159-227 |
| McKenna M. C., Bell S. K. (1997) , Classification of Mammals Above the Species Level, 1-640 |
| Rice D. W. (1998) Marine Mammals of the World: Systematics and Distribution, The Society for Marine Mammalogy Special Publication 4, 1-231 |
| Fordyce R. E., de Muizon C. (2001) Evolutionary history of the cetaceans: a review, Secondary Adaptations of Tetrapods to Life in the Water, 169-233 |
| Sepkoski, Jr. J. J. (2002) A compendium of fossil marine animal genera, Bulletins of American Paleontology 363, 1-560 |
| Mead J. G., Brownell R. L. (2005) Order Cetacea, Mammalian Species of the World, 723-743 |
| Agnarsson I., May-Collado L. J. (2008) The phylogeny of Cetartiodactyla: The importance of dense taxon sampling, missing data, and the remarkable promise of cytochrome b to provide reliable species-level phylogenies, Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution 48, 964-985 |
| Murakami M., Shimada C., et al (2014) Eodelphis kabatensis, a new name for the oldest true dolphin Stenella kabatensis Horikawa, 1977 (Cetacea, Odontoceti, Delphinidae), from the upper Miocene of Japan, and the phylogeny and paleobiogeography of Delphinoidea, Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology 34 3, 491-511 doi:10.1080/02724634.2013.816720 |
| Marx F. G., Lambert O., et al (2016) Cetacean Paleobiology, 1-319 |
| Berta A. (2017) , The Rise of Marine Mammals: 50 Million Years of Evolution, 1-198 |
| Aphia2006 - via The Interim Register of Marine and Nonmarine Genera |
| Nomenclator Zoologicus. A list of the names of genera and subgenera in zoology from the tenth edition of Linnaeus, 1758 to the end of 2004. Digitised by uBio from vols. 1-9 of Neave (ed.), 1939-1996 plus supplementary digital-only volume. http://ubio.org/NomenclatorZoologicus (as at 2006). - via The Interim Register of Marine and Nonmarine Genera |
| SN2000/McKenna & Bell, 1997 - via The Interim Register of Marine and Nonmarine Genera |
| Wilson, D.E.; Reeder, D.M. (editors). (2005). Mammal Species of the World. A Taxonomic and Geographic Reference (3rd Ed.). Johns Hopkins University Press, Baltimore. 2,142 pp. - via The Interim Register of Marine and Nonmarine Genera |
| WoRMS (Mar 2013) - via The Interim Register of Marine and Nonmarine Genera |
| Sepkoski (2002)/web search (AJR) - via The Interim Register of Marine and Nonmarine Genera |
| Linnaeus, C. (1758). Systema Naturae per Regna Tria Naturae, Secundum Classes, Ordines, Genera, Species, cum Characteribus, Differentiis, Synonymis, Locis. 10th edition. - via The Interim Register of Marine and Nonmarine Genera |
| Mead, James G., and Robert L. Brownell, Jr. / Wilson, Don E., and DeeAnn M. Reeder, eds., 2005: Order Cetacea. Mammal Species of the World: A Taxonomic and Geographic Reference, 3rd ed., vol. 1. 723-743. - via Integrated Taxonomic Information System (ITIS) |
| Wilson, Don E., and DeeAnn M. Reeder, eds., 1992: null. Mammal Species of the World: A Taxonomic and Geographic Reference, 2nd ed., 3rd printing. xviii + 1207. - via Integrated Taxonomic Information System (ITIS) |
| Banks, R. C., R. W. McDiarmid, and A. L. Gardner, 1987: Checklist of Vertebrates of the United States, the U.S. Territories, and Canada. Resource Publication, no. 166. 79. - via Integrated Taxonomic Information System (ITIS) |
| Rice, Dale W., 1998: Marine Mammals of the World: Systematics and Distribution. Special Publications of the Society for Marine Mammals, no. 4. ix + 231. - via Integrated Taxonomic Information System (ITIS) |
| Reeves, Randall R., and Sharon Tracy, 1980: Monodon monoceros. Mammalian Species, no. 127. 1-7. - via Integrated Taxonomic Information System (ITIS) |
| Hershkovitz, Philip, 1966: Catalog of Living Whales. United States National Museum Bulletin 246. viii + 259. - via Integrated Taxonomic Information System (ITIS) |
| International Commission on Zoological Nomenclature. Opinion 75 Twenty-seven generic names of Protozoa, Vermes, Pisces, Reptilia and Mammalia included in the Official List of Zoological Names.Smithsonian Miscellaneous Collections 73(1), 35-37 (1922) - via Official Lists and Indexes of Names in Zoology |
| Bjärvall, S. (2005) Däggdjur. Alla europas arter i text och bild. - via Dyntaxa. Svensk taxonomisk databas |
| van der Land, J. (2001). Tetrapoda, in: Costello, M.J. et al. (Ed.) (2001). European register of marine species: a check-list of the marine species in Europe and a bibliography of guides to their identification. Collection Patrimoines Naturels, 50: pp. 375-376 - via World Register of Marine Species |
| Linnaeus, C. (1758). Systema Naturae per regna tria naturae, secundum classes, ordines, genera, species, cum characteribus, differentiis, synonymis, locis. Editio decima, reformata [10th revised edition], vol. 1: 824 pp. Laurentius Salvius: Holmiae. - via World Register of Marine Species |
Monodon
Monodon monoceros
