Most of us know about blue whales, sperm whales, and dolphins (a type of specialized whale).
But what about beaked whales, an elusive group that includes nearly a quarter of all living whale species?
Favoring deepwater habitat, beaked whales are rarely seen by humans. But in the past exhibition Whales: Giants of the Deep visitors could see skulls from 12 different species. A video featuring experts from the Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongerewa, which developed the exhibition, explains more about beaked whales.
Anatomically, beaked whales are remarkable for their unusual "beaked" snouts and, mostly in males, a large pair of tusklike teeth. Not long ago, a beaked whale species known only from a jaw found in the 1870s and a skull in the 1950s was found when a whale beached on New Zealand's Opape Beach.