Cetacea Cetacea Cetacea () is a widely distributed and diverse clade of aquatic mammals that today consists of whales, dolphins, and porpoises. Cetaceans are carnivorous and finned. Most species live in the sea, some in rivers. The name is derived from the Latin "cetus" "whale", itself from the Greek κῆτος "kētos" "huge fish". There are around 89 extant species, which are divided into two groups or parvorders, the Odontoceti or toothed whales, a group of more than 70 species that includes the dolphins, porpoises, belugas, narwhals, sperm and beaked whales, and the Mysticeti or baleen whales, of which there are now
Toothed whale and cone cells, meaning they can see in both dim and bright light. They do, however, lack short wavelength-sensitive visual pigments in their cone cells, indicating a more limited capacity for colour vision than most mammals. Most toothed whales have slightly flattened eyeballs, enlarged pupils (which shrink as they surface to prevent damage), slightly flattened corneas, and a tapetum lucidum; these adaptations allow for large amounts of light to pass through the eye, and, therefore, a very clear image of the surrounding area. In water, a whale can see around ahead of itself, but they have a smaller range above