Cuvier's beaked whale

Cuvier's beaked whale Temporal range: Pliocene-recent[1]
Size compared to an average human
Conservation status
Least Concern  (IUCN 3.1)[2]
CITES Appendix II (CITES)[3]
Scientific classification
Domain:	Eukaryota
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Mammalia
Order:	Artiodactyla
Infraorder:	Cetacea
Family:	Ziphiidae
Genus:	Ziphius Cuvier, 1823 [4]
Species:	Z. cavirostris
Binomial name
Ziphius cavirostris Cuvier, 1823 [4]
Range of Cuvier's beaked whale
Synonyms[5][6]
Genus synonymy Aliama Gray, 1864 Epiodon Burmeister, 1867 Epiodon Rafinesque, 1814 Hyperodon Cope, 1865 Hyperondon Hall & Kelson, 1959 Hypodon Haldeman, 1841 Petrorhynchus Gray, 1875 Xiphius Agassiz, 1846 Ziphiorhynchus Burmeister, 1865 Ziphiorrhynchus Burmeister, 1865 Zyphius Moreno, 1895 Species synonymy Aliama desmarestii Gray, 1864 Aliama indica Gray, 1865 Choneziphius indicus (Van Beneden, 1863) Delphinorhynchus australis Burmeister, 1865 Delphinus desmaresti Risso, 1826 Delphinus philippii Cocco, 1846 Epiodon australe Burmeister, 1867 Epiodon australis Gray, 1871 Epiodon chathamensis (Hector, 1873) Epiodon chathamiensis Hector, 1873 Epiodon cryptodon Gray, 1870 Epiodon desmarestii Carus, 1893 Epiodon heraultii Gray, 1872 Epiodon patachonicum Burmeister, 1867 Hyperodon semijunctus Cope, 1865 Hyperondon semijunctus Hall & Kelson, 1959 Hyperoodon capensis Gray, 1865 Hyperoodon desmarestii Gray, 1850 Hyperoodon doumetii Gray, 1850 Hyperoodon gervaisii Duvernoy, 1851 Hyperoodon semijunctus (Cope, 1865) Petrorhynchus capensis Gray, 1865 Petrorhynchus indicus Gray, 1865 Petrorhynchus mediterraneus Gray, 1871 Ziphiorrhynchus australis (Trouessart, 1904) Ziphiorrhynchus cryptodon Burmeister, 1865 Ziphius aresques Gray, 1871 Ziphius australis (Burmeister, 1865) Ziphius australis (Trouessart, 1904) Ziphius cavirostris subsp. indicus Deraniyagala, 1945 Ziphius chatamensis Lahille, 1899 Ziphius chathamensis Flower, 1885 Ziphius chathamiensis Iredale & Troughton, 1934 Ziphius cryptodon Fischer, 1857 Ziphius decavirostris Gray, 1871 Ziphius gervaisii (Duvernoy, 1851) Ziphius grebnitzkii Stejneger, 1883 Ziphius indicus P.-J.van Bénéden, 1863 Ziphius novaezealandiae Haast, 1876 Ziphius savii Richiardi, 1873 Ziphius semijunctus (Cope, 1865) Zyphius chathamensis Moreno, 1895

The Cuvier's beaked whale, goose-beaked whale, or ziphius (Ziphius cavirostris) is the most widely distributed of all beaked whales in the family Ziphiidae.^[7] It is smaller in size than most baleen whales—and indeed the larger toothed cetaceans (like orca and sperm whales)—yet it is large among the beaked whales and smaller cetaceans, appearing somewhat like a bigger and stockier bottlenose dolphin. Cuvier's beaked whale is pelagic, generally inhabiting waters deeper than 300 m (1,000 ft), though it has been observed closer to shore on occasion. In these offshore waters, Cuvier's beaked whale executes some of the deepest, longest recorded dives among whales, and extant mammals, at 2,992 m (9,816 ft), for 222 minutes. While likely diving to forage and hunt prey, such as cephalopods, and potentially evade predators (like the aforementioned orca), the frequency and exact reason for these extraordinary dives is unclear.^[8][9] Despite its deepwater habitat, it is one of the most frequently-spotted beaked whales when surfacing.^[3]

Cuvier's beaked whale was named Ziphius cavirostris by Georges Cuvier based on a skull fragment which he believed to be a fossil from an extinct species.^[10] He reused the genus name Ziphius from an undetermined species mentioned by historical sources.^[11] The species name, cavirostris, comes from the Latin cavus ("hollow") and rostrum ("beak"), and refers to the bony cavity of the nares (nasal bones), now known as the prenarial basin. This feature is now known to be unique to male Z. cavirostrus.^[12][10]