Toothed whale Toothed whale The toothed whales (systematic name Odontoceti) are a parvorder of cetaceans that includes dolphins, porpoises, and all other whales possessing teeth, such as the beaked whales and sperm whales. Seventy-three species of toothed whales (also called odontocetes) are described. They are one of two living groups of cetaceans, the other being the baleen whales (Mysticeti), which have baleen instead of teeth. The two groups are thought to have diverged around 34 million years ago (mya). Toothed whales range in size from the and vaquita to the and sperm whale. Several species of odontocetes exhibit sexual dimorphism, in that
Spade-toothed whale initially remained undescribed, but was later believed to be from a ginkgo-toothed beaked whale. In 1986, a damaged calvaria was found washed up on Robinson Crusoe Island, Chile, and was described as a new species, "Mesoplodon bahamondi" or Bahamonde's beaked whale. In December 2010, two specimens, a cow and calf, were found stranded on Opape Beach, Bay of Plenty, New Zealand. They were originally identified as Gray's beaked whale, but later genetic analysis revealed that they represented the first complete specimens of the spade-toothed whale. Following this find, a report describing the spade-toothed whale and an analysis of their DNA