30 July 2021
Bowhead and right whales are among the biggest animals alive today, but a new look at how they evolved suggests that the two groups ballooned in size independently of each other, and probably for different reasons
24 February 2021
Whales, dolphins and porpoises are much better at fighting cancer than we are, and a DNA analysis brings us closer to understanding why cetaceans can do this
28 January 2021
Baleen whales include the largest animals ever to exist, but despite their size, they remain mysterious – and a new species has just been found near the US south coast
9 July 2020
A fossil of an ancient giant tusked dolphin lacks the extra vertebrae and short pectoral bones that make fast swimmers of dolphins and baleen whales, which later independently evolved these traits
1 May 2019
It was thought baleen whales suddenly evolved to be massive 2.5 million years ago, but new evidence suggests the change was more gradual and much earlier
29 November 2018
A 33-million-year-old-fossil suggests some whales evolved baleens for filter feeding only after losing their teeth, so they must have sucked food from the water
11 July 2017
Humpbacks have been spotted feeding on baby salmon bred for release into the wild to restock fisheries for the first time, competing with fishermen
29 June 2017
A whale that lived 30 million years ago had extraordinary back teeth for sieving out small prey, while its front teeth let it catch big prey too
12 January 2017
The 16-metre-long megalodon may have fed on small marine mammals, and when they went extinct, so did the sharks
6 September 2016
The unprecedented loss of sea ice at high latitudes has one benefit – it has created ideal conditions for baleen whales
