Cetecean Taxonomy

Ignorance is calling an Orca a whale, knowledge is calling it a dolphin, but erudition is knowing that an Orca is a whale. A whale is a anything of the infraorder Ceteacea. Thus the Blue Whale, a Harbour Porpoise, the Sperm Whale and an Amazonian River Dolphin are whales! My favourite fun fact about whales is that they are of the order Artiodactyla (युग्मङ्गुलिन्), together with cows, pigs, deer, and hippopotamuses. We shall be translating the cetecean taxa into Sanskrit!

The infraorder Cetecea is simply "whale" which in Sanskrit is तिमि. There are two types of whales, Baleen Whales and Toothed Whales. The former is the parvorder Mysticeti and the latter is Odontoceti. I shall name the Baleen Whales as "filter mouth whales" or शोधन्यास्यतिमि and the latter as "tooth whales" or दन्ततिमि.

There are four families in Mysticeti: Balaenidae, Neobalaenidae, Balaenopteridae, Eschrichitiidae. 

The first we shall look at is Balaenidae, which consists of Bowhead Whales and Right Whales. Both these whales have their upper part of the skull in the shape of a bow. Thus this family is "bow skull" or चापमस्तकमय​.

Then there is Neobalaenidae, which is the Pygmy Right Whale. If I am not misuderstanding anything, those of this family are more closely related to blue whales than to those of Balaenidae. For this reason I will call them अपचापमस्तकमय. 

Now we have the famous Balaenopteridae, or Rorquals. These whales include the largest known animal to have ever lived: the blue whale! All whales of this family have folds on from their mouth to throat, allowing their bottom part of the mouth to gulp up large volumes of water. I will call this family "gaping bag mouth" or सुजृंभस्यूतास्यमय​. The superfamily Baleanopteroidae will be जृंभस्यूतास्यरूप​.

Finally Eschrichitiidae, which is the Grey Whales, and are a sister species to Rorquals. Thus I will call them उपजृंभस्यूतास्यमय.

Feel free to insert the word "तिमि" into the above names to show clarity. 

Finally we move to the Toothed Whales, which are a very diverse set of whales. The first 2 groups we will look at are Physeteridea and Kogiidae, which are the Sperm Whales and Dwarf Sperm Whales respectively. Both are of the superfamily Physeteroidea. This superfamily inclused the largest known toothed animal to have ever lived: Livyatan! This group is known for its waxy substance in its head. Thus I will call this superfamily "wax head" or. सिक्थशिरोरूप​​. The The family Physeteridea is सुसिक्थशिरोमय. Kogiidae is लघुसिक्थशिरोमय. A short hand name for these whales is "wax whales" or सिक्थतिमि.

 

Finally onto our dolphins, porpoises, beaked whales, and river dolphins! Yes, River dolphins, both in Asia and South America are not rue dolphins. In fact, the Indian River Dolphins are of ther superfamily Platanistoidae. I bring this up because the Sanskrit word translated as "dolphin" is शिंशुमार​, which likely refers to the Indian River Dolphins as opposed to true dophins. What I should do is use शिंशुमार for the entire clade that includes Indian River Dolphins and True Dolphins, and the variant of this word शिशुमार​ for the True Dolphins. Thus even beaked whales are शिंशुमार. Platanistoidae is "Indian Shimshumaras" or भारतशिंशुमाररूप​.  

 

Ziphioidae are the superfamily of beaked whales, which I will simple render as "beaked whale" or तुण्डितिमिरूप​.  

Now we have our Delphinoidae which includes our true dolphins and porpoises. I will call them "looking like dolphins" or शिशुमारदृग्रूप​. True Dolphins are of the family Delphinidae, which will simply be शिशुमारमय​. Then we have the Porpoises of Phocenidae. Sanskrit has a word for porpoise, which is "चुलुकिन्". Thus this family is .चुलुकिमय​. Finally, we have the sister family Monodontidae, which includes Belugas and Narwhals. This will family be called उपचुलुकिमय​.

The Inioidae superfamily is sister to the Delphinoide are the Yangtze and Amazonian River Dolphins. Thus they are distantly related to true dolphins, so I will call them अपशिशुमार​​रूप​. The Iniidae family will be स्वापशिशुमार​मय​.

Summary:

Artiodactyla: युग्मङ्गुलिन्

    Cetacea: तिमि

        Mysticeti: शोधन्यास्यतिमि 

                Balaenidae: चापमस्तकमय​.

                Neobalaenidae: अपचापमस्तकमय. 

            Baleanopteroidae: जृंभस्यूतास्यरूप

                Balaenopteridae:सुजृंभस्यूतास्यमय​

                Eschrichitiidae: उपजृंभस्यूतास्यमय.

        Odontoceti: दन्ततिमि

            Physeteroidea: सिक्थशिरोरूप​​

                Physeteridea: सुसिक्थशिरोमय

                Kogiidae: लघुसिक्थशिरोमय

         "Shimshumara clade": शिंशुमार 

            Platanistoidae: भारतशिंशुमाररूप​

                Ziphioidae:: तुण्डितिमिरूप​.

            Delphinoidae: शिशुमारदृग्रूप​. 

                Delphinidae: शिशुमारमय​. 

                Phocenidae: चुलुकिमय 

                Monodontidae: उपचुलुकिमय​.

            Inioidae: अपशिशुमाररूप​

                Iniidea: स्वापशिशुमार​मय​ ​

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Finally, I will name the famouse whale species:

Blue Whale: नीलतिमि or नीलमहातिमि

Right Whale: सुचापमस्तकतिमि

Grey Whale: धूसरतिमि or धूसरमहातिमि

Bowhead Whale: धनुर्मस्तकतिमि

Fin Whale: तनुतिमि or तनुमहातिमि

Humpback Whale: कुब्जतिमि or कुब्जमहातिमि

Sperm Whale: सिक्थतिमि

Orca: महाशिशुमार​ or मारतिमि or मारशिशुमार​

Beluga Whale: शुक्लोपचुलुकिन् or शुक्लतिमि

Narwhal: शल्योपचुलुकिन् or शल्यतिमि or दंष्ट्रोपचुलुकिन् or दंष्ट्रतिमि

River Dolphins: नदीसिंशुमार​