Mysticeti

Baleen whales Temporal range: latest Eocene - Recent
Humpback whale breaching
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Class:	Mammalia
Order:	Cetacea
Suborder:	Mysticeti Cope, 1891
Families
Balaenidae Balaenopteridae Eschrichtiidae Neobalaenidae Janjucetidae†

The Mysticeti ^[1] are one of the two suborders of the Cetacea.^[2] They are often called baleen whales, or 'whalebone whales' or 'great whales'.

Baleen whales have baleen plates made of keratin. The difference is connected with feeding. Baleen whales strain plankton out of the water, whereas the Odontoceti (toothed whales) eat larger prey.

The suborder contains four families and fourteen species.^[3]

1. ↑ The scientific name comes from the Greek word mystidos, which means 'unknowable'.
2. ↑ The other being the Odontoceti, or toothed whales.
3. ↑ Mead, James G. & Brownell, Robert L. Jr. 2005. Order Cetacea (pp. 723-743). In Wilson, Don E. and Reeder, DeeAnn M. eds. Mammal species of the world: a taxonomic and geographic reference. 3rd ed, Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 2 vols. ISBN 978-0-8018-8221-0. OCLC 62265494.