AnAge Home Help Human Ageing Genomic Resources Citation

AnAge entry for Balaenoptera physalus

Classification (HAGRID: 02631)
TaxonomyKingdom: Animalia
    Phylum: Chordata
        Class: Mammalia (Taxon entry)
            Order: Cetacea (Taxon entry)
                Family: Balaenopteridae
                    Genus: Balaenoptera
SpeciesBalaenoptera physalus
Common nameFin whale

Lifespan, ageing, and relevant traits

Maximum longevity114 years (wild)
Sourceref. 434
Sample sizemedium
Data qualityacceptable
Observations

As in other whales, these animals attain sexual maturity before they are fully grown. It is estimated that they attain physical maturity in about 25-30 years. Although there are no detailed studies, some estimates suggest these animals may live over 100 years in the wild with one study estimating that some individuals may live up to 114 years [0434].

Life history traits (averages)

Female sexual maturity2,701 days
Male sexual maturity2,864 days
Gestation342 days
Weaning183 days
Litter size1 (viviparous)
Litters per year0.4
Inter-litter interval608 days
Weight at birth1,800,000 g
Weight at weaning
Adult weight70,000,000 g
Postnatal growth rate

Metabolism

No information on metabolism available.

References
[0610] Ernest (2003), Life history characteristics of placental non-volant mammals
[0434] Ronald Nowak (1999), Walker's Mammals of the World
[0538] Don Wilson and Sue Ruff (1999), The Smithsonian Book of North American 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

External resources

Integrated Taxonomic Information SystemITIS 180527
Animal Diversity WebADW account
Encyclopedia of LifeSearch EOL
Genome ProjectSearch NCBI
Entrez

Search all databases

Entrez Taxonomy search

Ageing literature

Search Google Scholar

Search PubMed

Search Scirus

ImagesGoogle Image search
InternetSearch Google

AnAge database at the Human Ageing Genomic Resources.

If you find any missing or incorrect data, please contact us.