What is the maximal age a Bowhead whale reaches?
An adult Bowhead whale (Balaena mysticetus) usually gets as old as 40 years.
Bowhead whales are around 379 days in the womb of their mother. When born, they weight 1 grams (0 lbs) and measure 18 cm (0′ 8″). As a member of the Balaenidae family (genus: Balaena), their offspring is 1 babies per pregnancy. Fully grown, they reach a bodylength of 12.2 meter (40′ 1″).
As a reference: Usually, humans get as old as 100 years, with the average being around 75 years. After being carried in the belly of their mother for 280 days (40 weeks), they grow to an average size of 1.65m (5′ 5″) and weight in at 62 kg (137 lbs), which is obviously highly individual.
The bowhead whale (Balaena mysticetus) is a species of baleen whale belonging to the family Balaenidae and the only living representative of the genus Balaena. The bowhead is the only baleen whale endemic to the Arctic and subarctic waters. The species is named after its characteristic massive triangular skull, which is used to break through Arctic ice. Other common names of the species are the Greenland right whale or Arctic whale. American whalemen called them the steeple-top, polar whale, or Russia or Russian whale.The bowhead has the largest mouth of any animal representing almost one-third of the length of the body, the longest baleen plates with a maximum length of 4 m (13.1 ft) and may be the longest-lived mammal, with the ability to reach an age of more than 200 years.The bowhead was an early whaling target. The population was severely reduced before a 1966 moratorium was passed to protect the species. Of the five stocks of bowhead populations, three are listed as “endangered”, one as “vulnerable”, and one as “lower risk, conservation dependent” according to the IUCN Red List. The global population is assessed as of least concern.
Animals of the same family as a Bowhead whale
Not really brothers and sisters, but from the same biological family (Balaenidae):
- Southern right whale growing to a mass of 23000 kgs (50706.26 lbs)
- North Atlantic right whale with 1 babies per pregnancy
Animals that reach the same age as Bowhead whale
With an average age of 40 years, Bowhead whale are in good companionship of the following animals:
- Walrus usually reaching 40 years
- Pantropical spotted dolphin usually reaching 46 years
- Rhesus macaque usually reaching 36 years
- Long-finned pilot whale usually reaching 45 years
- Onager usually reaching 38.75 years
- Mandrill usually reaching 46.25 years
- Yellow baboon usually reaching 45 years
- Red-faced spider monkey usually reaching 37.75 years
- Ringed seal usually reaching 46 years
- Chacma baboon usually reaching 45 years
Animals with the same number of babies Bowhead whale
The same number of babies at once (1) are born by:
- Japanese serow
- Angolan epauletted fruit bat
- Edwards’s long-tailed giant rat
- Mule deer
- Verreaux’s sifaka
- Greater dog-like bat
- Baiji
- Weddell seal
- Van Gelder’s bat
- Long-tongued fruit bat
Animals as big as a Bowhead whale
Those animals grow as big as a Bowhead whale:
- Bryde’s whale with 13.85 meter (45′ 6″)
- Gray whale with 11.84 meter (38′ 11″)
- Southern right whale with 14.15 meter (46′ 6″)
- North Atlantic right whale with 13.92 meter (45′ 9″)
- Sperm whale with 12.18 meter (40′ 0″)
- Humpback whale with 12.87 meter (42′ 3″)