Bairds Beaked Whale Teeth

$52.00

The snout, called a beak, of Braird’s Beaked Whale is elongated and lacks all teeth except for one or two sets in the lower mandible, which are called “battle teeth” for their use in intra-species conflict.

Description

Bairds Beaked Whale Teeth Replicas are museum quality polyurethane cast. Bairds Beaked Whale teeth are made in USA. Berardius bairdi is the scientific name. Our precise teeth can be used as a teaching tool, museum tooth exhibit, home décor tooth, or office décor tooth.

Bairds Beaked Whale or Berardius bairdi is found in the northern Pacific Ocean, the Sea of Japan and the southern part of the Sea of Okhotsk.

Specimens have been recorded as far north as the Bering Sea and as far south as the Baja California peninsula. Bairds Beaked Whale or Berardius bairdi is the largest of the beaked whales, has an estimated population around 30,000 individuals, sometimes reaching a maximum length of 42 feet or 12.8 m. This species may be the only large beaked whale found in the North Pacific.

Bairds Beaked Whale or Berardius bairdi are unique among toothed whales in that most species only have one pair of teeth. The teeth are tusk-like, but are only visible in males, which are presumed to use these teeth in combat for females for reproductive rights. In females, the teeth do not develop and remain hidden in the gum tissues.

The throats of all beaked whales have a bilaterally paired set of grooves that are associated with their unique feeding mechanism, suction feeding. Instead of capturing prey with their teeth, beaked whales suck it into their oral cavity. Suction is aided by the throat grooves, which stretch and expand to accommodate food.

Their tongues can move very freely. By suddenly retracting the tongue and distending the gular (throat) floor, pressure immediately drops within the mouth, sucking the prey in with the water.

Dietary information is available from stomach contents analyses of stranded Bairds Beaked Whales or Berardius bairdi and from whaling operations. Their preferred diet is primarily deep water squid, but also benthic and benthopelagic fish and some crustaceans, mostly taken near the sea floor.

Shop More Museum Quality Whale Skulls in Whale Skull Store

Additional information

Weight 4 lbs
Bairds Beaked Whale Facts

Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Mammalia
Order: Artiodactyla
Infraorder: Cetacea
Superfamily: Ziphioidea
Family: Ziphiidae