Whale is the common name for a widely distributed and diverse group of fully aquatic placental marine mammals. They are an informal grouping within the infraorder Cetacea, usually excluding dolphins and porpoises. Whales, dolphins and porpoises belong to the order Cetartiodactyla with even-toed ungulates and their closest living relatives are the hippopotamuses, having diverged about 40 million years ago. The two parvorders of whales, baleen whales (Mysticeti) and toothed whales (Odontoceti), are thought to have split apart around 34 million years ago. The whales comprise eight extant families: Balaenopteridae (the rorquals), Balaenidae (right whales), Cetotheriidae (the pygmy right whale),
5 Fascinating Facts About Guanacos
In the dependable words of Charles Darwin, Patagonia?s favourite camelid can be summarised as, ?an elegant animal, with a long, slender neck and fine legs?. But we think there is so much more behind those beautifully soulful, long-lashed eyes than that bare, if rather flattering, description! Take a trip down south in Chile and the sight of many a graceful, grazing guanaco awaits on the horizon...
You can also spot guanacos in southern Peru, western Bolivia, Tierra del Fuego, Navarino Island, and some even found their way to the Falkland Islands, where they were introduced from Argentina in the 1930s. A pale fawn colour, with a
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Whale is the common name for a widely distributed and diverse group of fully aquatic placental marine mammals. They are an informal grouping within the infraorder Cetacea, usually excluding dolphins and porpoises. Whales, dolphins and porpoises belong to the order Cetartiodactyla with even-toed ungulates and their closest living relatives are the hippopotamuses, having diverged about 40 million years ago. The two parvorders of whales, baleen whales (Mysticeti) and toothed whales (Odontoceti), are thought to have split apart around 34 million years ago. The whales comprise eight extant families: Balaenopteridae (the rorquals), Balaenidae (right whales), Cetotheriidae (the pygmy right whale),