Sperm Whale

• It has the largest brain of any known animal, weighing around 9.2 kg.
• It can stay submerged for 90 to 140 minutes hunting deep-sea squid, including the giant squid.
• It shows marked sexual dimorphism: males can weigh more than twice as much as females.
• anatomíaIt has the largest brain of any known animal, weighing over 7 kg.
• comunicaciónFamily units have their own dialects of clicks, called codas, which distinguish the members of one clan from another rather like a cultural accent.
• récordIt can dive to over 2,000 metres to hunt giant squid, making it one of the deepest-diving mammals known.

Skeleton type

Vertebrate - internal bony skeleton (mammal)

Habitat & environment

Deep ocean waters worldwide, from the equator to the edge of the polar ice

Birth weight

~1 tonne and 4 m long at birth

Size at birth

~1 tonne and 4 m at birth

Sexual maturity

Female: ~9 years | Male: a prolonged puberty from 10 to 20 years, with full physical maturity at 50

Gestation / incubation

14-16 months

Litter / clutch size

1 calf every 5-7 years

Sources consulted: Alaska Department of Fish and Game; MarineBio; NOAA Fisheries; AnAge (genomics.senescence.info); A-Z Animals; Quark Expeditions; PMC (Italian coast life history study)