AnAge Home Help Human Ageing Genomic Resources Citation

AnAge entry for Globicephala melas

Classification (HAGRID: 02637)
TaxonomyKingdom: Animalia
    Phylum: Chordata
        Class: Mammalia (Taxon entry)
            Order: Cetacea (Taxon entry)
                Family: Delphinidae
                    Genus: Globicephala
SpeciesGlobicephala melas
Common nameLong-finned pilot whale
SynonymsGlobicephala melaena

Lifespan, ageing, and relevant traits

IMR0.015/year
MRDT10 years
Maximum longevity60 years (captivity)
Sourceref. 671
Sample sizetiny
Data qualityacceptable
Observations

Maximum longevity has been estimated to be around 60 years, which is plausible. Males appear to be longer-lived than females and attain sexual maturity at later ages [0434]. Pregnant females have been reported up to 55 years of age. The MRDT was calculated to be about 10 and the IMR 0.015 for females [0784]. One wild born specimen was still alive in captivity at 37.8 years of age [0671].

Life history traits (averages)

Female sexual maturity2,470 days
Male sexual maturity4,380 days
Gestation450 days
Weaning812 days
Litter size1 (viviparous)
Litters per year0.2
Inter-litter interval
Weight at birth109,667 g
Weight at weaning
Adult weight1,060,000 g
Postnatal growth rate

Metabolism

No information on metabolism available.

References
[0784] Foote (2008), Mortality rate acceleration and post-reproductive lifespan in matrilineal whale species, PubMed
[0671] Richard Weigl (2005), Longevity of Mammals in Captivity; from the Living Collections of the World
[0610] Ernest (2003), Life history characteristics of placental non-volant mammals
[0443] Ronald Nowak (2003), Walker's Marine Mammals of the World
[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 552461
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.