Berardius
genus of mammals

The four-toothed whales or giant beaked whales are beaked whales in the genus Berardius. They include Arnoux's beaked whale (Berardius arnuxii) in cold Southern Hemispheric waters, and Baird's beaked whale (Berardius bairdii) in the cold temperate waters of the North Pacific. A third species, Sato's beaked whale (Berardius minimus), was distinguished from B. bairdii in the 2010s.
Arnoux's and Baird's beaked whales are so similar that researchers have debated whether or not they are simply two populations of the same species. However, genetic evidence and their wide geographical separation has led them to be classified as separate. Lifespan estimates, based on earwax plug samples, indicate male whales can live up to 84 years, while females can have a lifespan of 54 years. It is estimated that the length at birth is ~4 metres (13 ft). Growing up to ~10 metres (33 ft), these are the largest whales belonging to the family Ziphiidae. Sato's beaked whale is much smaller, with adult males having a length of ~7 metres (23 ft).
While Berardius arnuxii and Berardius bairdii are considered least concern by the IUCN, Berardius minimus is labeled as near threatened as of 2023.
“Berardius” enters the record as genus of mammals. Crown Archives preserves that source wording while asking what Berardius, genus and mammals can confirm, complicate or overturn.
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Datasets, specimens, observations and peer-reviewed methods provide the appropriate test for the technical claims summarized here. The source revision retrieved here is dated Aug 17, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q1061872. None of the 0 selected statements returned an explicit reference. The first chronological checks are 2023.
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This entry incorporates text from “Berardius” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.