Monodon

The narwhal is a species of toothed whale native to the Arctic. It is the only member of the genus Monodon and one of two living representatives of the family Monodontidae. The narwhal is a stocky cetacean with a relatively blunt snout, a large melon, and a shallow ridge in place of a dorsal fin. Males of this species have a spiralled tusk that is 1.5–3.0 m (4.9–9.8 ft) long, which is a protruding left canine thought to function as a weapon, a tool for feeding, in attracting mates or sensing water salinity. Specially adapted slow-twitch muscles, along with the jointed neck vertebrae and shallow dorsal ridge allow for easy movement through the Arctic environment, where the narwhal spends extended periods at great depths. The narwhal's geographic range overlaps with that of the similarly built and closely related beluga whale, and the animals are known to interbreed.

Monodon

пресс-служба ПАО "Газпром нефть" · CC BY-SA 4.0 · via Wikipedia/Commons. May be a photograph of a specimen, or an artist’s reconstruction — an interpretation of a skeleton, since colour and soft tissue are almost never preserved.

On record

Recorded, not inferred
Also called
narwhalPBDB
Sits inside
MonodontidaePBDB
Diet
piscivorePBDB, for Monodontidae
Life habit
aquatic, depth=surfacePBDB, for Cetacea
Motility
actively mobilePBDB, for Cetacea
Environment
marine,freshwaterPBDB, for Odontoceti

Time the record covers

At least 3.5 million years on record.

The record covers at least 3.6 Mya to 11.7 ka. No occurrence read is dated outside 7.246 Mya to 0 Mya.

Miocene — about 0 of 28 occurrencesMiocenePliocene — about 1 of 28 occurrencesPliocenePleistocene — about 8 of 28 occurrencesPleistoceneHolocene — about 18 of 28 occurrences7.5–7.2 Mya — about 0.0 occurrences7.2–7.0 Mya — about 0.0 occurrences7.0–6.7 Mya — about 0.0 occurrences6.7–6.5 Mya — about 0.0 occurrences6.5–6.2 Mya — about 0.0 occurrences6.2–5.9 Mya — about 0.0 occurrences5.9–5.7 Mya — about 0.0 occurrences5.7–5.4 Mya — about 0.0 occurrences5.4–5.2 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences5.2–4.9 Mya — about 0.2 occurrences4.9–4.6 Mya — about 0.2 occurrences4.6–4.4 Mya — about 0.2 occurrences4.4–4.1 Mya — about 0.2 occurrences4.1–3.9 Mya — about 0.2 occurrences3.9–3.6 Mya — about 0.2 occurrences3.6–3.4 Mya — about 0.0 occurrences3.4–3.1 Mya — about 0.0 occurrences3.1–2.8 Mya — about 0.0 occurrences2.8–2.6 Mya — about 0.0 occurrences2.6–2.3 Mya — about 0.5 occurrences2.3–2.1 Mya — about 0.5 occurrences2.1–1.8 Mya — about 0.5 occurrences1.8–1.5 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences1.5–1.3 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences1.3–1.0 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences1.0–775 ka Mya — about 0.1 occurrences775 ka–516 ka Mya — about 0.9 occurrences516 ka–258 ka Mya — about 0.9 occurrences258 ka–0 Mya — about 22 occurrences3.6 Mya11.7 ka7.7 Mya0 Mya

28 occurrences of Monodon on record. The Paleobiology Database records this as a living group. Bar height is expected occurrences, not a count: each fossil is spread across the span it is dated to, so a tall narrow bar means tight dating and a low wide one means loose.

When

28 occurrences

These are dates about fossils, not the animal: the record can only begin after it arose and end before it died out, so either end may reach further. Shares are expected occurrences: a fossil dated to a span is counted partly in each period it straddles. More on what this infers.

Found in

3 formations

Cromer Forest Bed — 52.92°N, 1.34°ECromer Forest Bed — 52.88°N, 1.44°EYorktown — 35.36°N, 76.82°WRed Crag — 51.96°N, 1.35°E

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The named rock units Monodon has been recovered from, largest first. Drawn where the rock is now, not where it formed. 24 occurrences have no formation on record, which is common for older literature.

Found in the same rock

572 taxa

The Paleobiology Database records 27 sites for Monodon, and this reads all of them. The number is how many of those sites it was catalogued from too. The 24 sharing the most are listed.

This is not a list of everything alive at the time. It is only what has come out of the same ground as this animal and been written down.

Entered from

19 references

Each of the 28 occurrences read was entered from one of these publications, ordered by how many each accounts for. This is not a search for papers mentioning the name. 7 further references are not listed. Entries link to doi.org where the Paleobiology Database holds an identifier, and to its own record where it does not. Relayed as the Paleobiology Database holds them, not checked against what they resolve to.

Media and terms

Media content3

Picture of Monodon

Credit
пресс-служба ПАО "Газпром нефть"
Licence
CC BY-SA 4.0
Commercial use
the licence allows it

Laser scan

Licence
In Copyright
Commercial use
cannot be read from the licence given — check the record
Specimen
Monodon Monodon monoceros · UAM:Mamm:UAM:Mamm:3380

3D model

Source
Sketchfab
Licence
CC Attribution
Commercial use
cannot be read from the licence given — check the record

Smithsonian Open Access was not reached for this taxon, so this list is what the others held rather than everything there is.

The description on this site

Licence
CC BY-SA 4.0

This is what the site found, which is not the same as what exists.

Keep going

What may have been alongside itMonodontidae through timeThe world it lived on

Occurrence data from the Paleobiology Database, CC BY 4.0. Linnaeus 1758