Ответы
Ответ:The humpback whale is a species of baleen whale. It is one of the larger rorqual species, with adults ranging in length from
and weighing around . The humpback has a distinctive body shape, with long pectoral fins and a knobbly head. It is known
for breaching and other distinctive surface behaviors, making it popular with whale watchers. Males produce a complex song
lasting 10 to 20 minutes, which they repeat for hours at a time. All the males in a group will produce the same song, which is
different each season. Its purpose is not clear, though it may help induce estrus in females.
Found in oceans and seas around the world, humpback whales typically migrate up to each year. They feed in polar waters,
and migrate to tropical or subtropical waters to breed and give birth, fasting and living off their fat reserves. Their diet
consists mostly of krill and small fish. Humpbacks have a diverse repertoire of feeding methods, including the bubble net
technique.
Like other large whales, the humpback was a target for the whaling industry. The species was once hunted to the brink of
extinction; its population fell by an estimated 90% before a 1966 moratorium. While stocks have partially recovered to some
80,000 animals worldwide, entanglement in fishing gear, collisions with ships and noise pollution continue to affect the
species.
Taxonomy
Humpback whales are rorquals, members of the Balaenopteridae family that includes the blue, fin, Bryde's, sei and minke
whales. The rorquals are believed to have diverged from the other families of the suborder Mysticeti as long ago as the
middle Miocene era. However, it is not known when the members of these families diverged from each other.
Though clearly related to the giant whales of the genus Balaenoptera, the humpback is the sole member of its genus. Recent
DNA sequencing has indicated the humpback is actually more closely related to certain rorquals, particularly the fin whale
and possibly the gray, than it is to others such as the minke.
The humpback was first identified as baleine de la Nouvelle Angleterre by Mathurin Jacques Brisson in his Regnum
Animale of 1756. In 1781, Georg Heinrich Borowski described the species, converting Brisson's name to its Latin
equivalent, Balaena novaeangliae. In 1804, Lacépède shifted the humpback from the family Balaenidae, renaming it B.
jubartes. In 1846, John Edward Gray created the genus Megaptera, classifying the humpback as Megaptera longipinna, but in
1932, Remington Kellogg reverted the species names to use Borowski's novaeangliae. The common name is derived from
the curving of their backs when diving. The generic name Megaptera from the Ancient Greek mega- and ptera/, refers to
their large front flippers. The specific name means "New Englander" and was probably given by Brisson due to regular
sightings of humpbacks off the coast of New England.
Genetic research in mid-2014 by the British Antarctic Survey confirmed that the separate populations in the North Atlantic,
North Pacific and Southern Oceans are more distinct than previously thought. Some biologists believe that these should be
regarded as separate subspecies and that they are evolving independently.
Anatomy
Humpbacks can easily be identified by their stocky body, obvious hump, black dorsal coloring and elongated pectoral fins.
The head and lower jaw are covered with knobs called tubercles, which are hair follicles and are characteristic of the species.
The fluked tail, which typically rises above the surface when diving, has wavy trailing edges.
Humpbacks have 270 to 400 darkly colored baleen plates on each side of their mouths. The plates measure from in the front
to about in the back, behind the hinge.
Ventral grooves run from the lower jaw to the umbilicus, about halfway along the underside of the body. These grooves are
less numerous than in other rorquals, but are fairly wide.
The female has a hemispherical lobe about in diameter in her genital region. This visually distinguishes males and females.
The male's penis usually remains hidden in the genital slit.
Size
Fully grown males average . Females are slightly larger at ; one large recorded specimen was long and had pectoral fins
measuring each. The largest humpback on record, according to whaling records, was a female killed in the Caribbean; she
was long with a weight of, although the reliability of these extremely atypical data is impossible to confirm. The largest
Объяснение:
Ответ:
Every time I help animals! And today I decided to help the humpback whales! I had to fly to the other end of the earth to find the oceans! I found whales and fed!