User:Jmarroquin12/sandbox

Article to edit: Dwarf Sperm Whale

I will be adding more to the taxonomy section, diet, and behavior of the Dwarf sperm whale. I will also be adding a few sentences to their life cycle and the interaction they have with humans. Since there is not that much on the reproduction of the whale and specifically does not state how their diet and habitat is located. Will also be adding a study done that shows sightings of dwarf sperm whales in a specific habitat.

http://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/pr/species/mammals/whales/dwarf-sperm-whale.html

http://animaldiversity.org/accounts/Kogia_sima/

http://whitelab.biology.dal.ca/rwb/kogiastat.pdf

https://mbr.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s41200-016-0064-z

http://www.whalefacts.org/dwarf-sperm-whale-facts/

The pygmy sperm whale is another species that appears very similar to the dwarf sperm whale. The two species differ slightly in physical size, morphology, and other minor features. In the field, it is very difficult to distinguish between the two species because they can be so easily confused. The geographic distribution and range for these species may overlap in some areas. Both species are poorly known due to the limited availability of information and are considered "rare."

 Introduction: 

The Dwarf sperm whale is classified in one of the genus of the Kogia. The genus Kogia can be classified into either the Pygmy sperm whale (kogia breviceps) and the Dwarf sperm whale itself, which is a Kogia simus. The dwarf sperm is part of the Animalia kingdom and classified as a Chordata phylum. It is in the Mammalia class and Artiodactyla order. The kogiidae is the family and is under the genus kogia and species k. sigma. The Pygmy sperm whale is a type of species that can easily be confused with the Dwarf sperm whale because of their appearance appears to be very similar. However, these species differ in the fact that they are slightly different in physical size, morphology, and minor features. These species are considered "rare" because there is hardly any information on them and also because the are so alike it is very difficult to distinguish them in the field. Also these species happen to like the same geographical areas and at times overlap in them.

 Habitat 

Dwarf sperm whales like more tropical weather, warm water and are found to be closer to the coast. They also tent to be found around the continental shelf edge and the slope. During the period of 2011 and 2013, studies where done to demonstrate that the dwarf sperm whales like this type of subtropical weather. For these animals to appear the climate in the region has to either be sunny or moderately cloudy. In the study, a total of 6 dwarf sperm whales where found in a total of 3 sightings. The first one occurred on October 1, 2011 of the coast Itsandra Bay 30 meter away from the boat where the ones sighted where an adult dwarf sperm whale, which was 2 meter in length and a child whale. The second sighting occurred at the same place but 720 meter off coast, where also 2 dwarf sperm whales where witness and the third one occurred on August 8, 2013 off the coast of the bay at 6 km away. All these sightings occurred during times where the times range from 6 to 10. It is believed that there is about 10,000 - 15,000 dwarf sperm whales out in the ocean.

 Reproduction / Life cycle 

Mating for dwarf sperm whale is unknown, but it is considered that mating occurs as other animals mate. The male and female align their bellies to one another and reproduction occurs. A female dwarf's gestation lasts 9 months and when they give birth they only produce one offspring. Females gives birth annually and during the summer, assuring that breeding occurs during the fall and winter months. A young dwarf sperm whale is called a calve, and usually spends months to years in their pods with their mothers until they are ready to be put into the ocean. To protect their offspring, females excrete fecal matter, they do this to distract predators from their pods. When a dwarf sperm whale is 2.5 to 5 years old of age and reach a length of about 7 feet it has reached sexually maturity. Dwarf sperm whales have an estimated life spam of about 22 years.

 Diet 

Dwarf sperm whales tend to eat mainly cephalopods, specifically species of squids. Those species range from the Ancistrocheirus lesueurii, the Histioteuthis species, the Chiroteuthis veranyi, and the Octopoteithis species. Another type of animal that can be considered part of their diet are fish, mollusk, small crab and aquatic crustaceans. Because the dwarf sperm whale is a species of a marine mammals that have tooth's, they use echolocation to help them locate their prey in areas where there is not even light. Echolocation is the usage of a reflected sound to be able to localize objects, in this case prey or food. Dwarf sperm whales tend to dive approximately 300 meters to be able to reach their food and tend to eat their prey in shallow waters. In addition, due to analysis of their stomach contents and the fact that they have a low jaw, they tend to feed on prey on or near the ocean bottom.