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
Machairodontinae fossil representation, comparable modern relatives, diversity within the group, and a good understanding of the ecosystems inhabited, the machairodont subfamily provides one of the best means of research for the analysis of hypercarnivores, specialization, and the relationships between predator and prey. Machairodonts are divided into two types: dirk-toothed and scimitar-toothed. Dirk-toothed cats had elongated, narrow upper canines and generally had stocky bodies. Scimitar-toothed cats had broader and shorter upper canines and a typically lithe body form with longer legs. The longer-toothed cats often had a bony flange that extended from their lower mandible. However, one genus, "Xenosmilus", known only from