Jump to navigation. Unlike the baleen whales, sperm whales are active predators, specializing on large squids in the deep sea but also eating large bony fishes and sharks. Sperm whales have several specialized physical characteristics that aid in this predatory behavior. They have large conical teeth for ensnaring their preferred prey. Like most active predators, they have large brains and in fact, the sperm whale has the largest brain of any animal on the planet.
The sperm whale Physeter Macrocephalus demonstrates very slow growth throughout its life Evans and Hindell, Females do not reaching full maturity until the reach around 30 years of age. While males will not reach full maturity until about 50 years Connor et al. The sperm whales, just like all mammals that we know of today, go through sexual reproduction where sperm and egg must be brought together to produce an offspring gametic life cycle.
Sperm Whale is one of the most amazing creatures we have on our planet. This particular animal holds several records apart from being the largest creature on Earth — the crown that goes to Blue Whale that might come as a serious shock to anyone. So, let us learn some really interesting Sperm Whale facts that we think you might like and even need for your school project. Before we start with the list of Sperm Whale facts, let us quickly take a look at the scientific classification of animal.
The sperm whale is the largest toothed whale. Males reach 60 feet 17 m in length and the smaller females are 37 feet 12 m. They are dark gray in color, have a hump rather than a dorsal fin, and usually display their tail flukes when they dive. Their skin is wrinkled to increase surface area for heat loss, giving them a shriveled look. Their heads make up one-third of their body length and are squarish in shape.