Odontoceti (Noun)
Meaning
Toothed whales: dolphins; porpoises; sperm whales; beaked whales.
Classification
Nouns denoting animals.
Examples
- The Odontoceti is one of the suborders of cetaceans that are toothed and carnivorous aquatic mammals.
- Some toothed whales in the Odontoceti suborder include sperm whales and pilot whales that have huge square teeth for grasping onto and killing squid and other marine mammals.
- Whales such as sperm whales belong to the Odontoceti suborder because of their massive conical-shaped teeth for breaking open squid shells and then consuming their flesh.
- Unlike baleen whales in the suborder Mysticeti the toothed whales of the Odontoceti are characterised by the presence of conical teeth and include the false killer whales and other small whales that hunt and kill their prey underwater.
- Some other species that are included in the Odontoceti suborder of toothed whales include orcas pilot whales belugas dolphins narwhals beaked whales sperm whales river dolphins porpoises tucuxi Amazon river dolphins Ganges river dolphins Indus river dolphins Orinoco river dolphins and Pacific white-sided dolphins among many other species.