toothed whale
1
5.0
- noun
- /tuːtʃt weɪl/
:
ballena dentada
- And large brains are a conspicuous feature of many marine mammals, for instance, seals and toothed whales (Armstrong 1983).
Examples
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Like the sperm whale,dolphins are actually toothed whales, grabbing and tearing at prey with their teeth.
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The approximately 77 species of whales fall into two main categories: baleen whales and toothed whales.
Academic text (1994) -
At only 1 5 feet,this toothed whale is relatively small.
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They are the largest of all the toothed whales.
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A large brain characterizes aquatics such as seals and toothed whales.
Academic text (1995) -
Though the precision of the estimates was not as fine as previously reported for a deep-diving toothed whale, the precision of individual body density estimates was substantially finer than the variation across different individual whales, including some differences between the geographic locations where tags were attached.
Academic text (2018) -
Toothed whales, such as killer whales and sperm whales, are known for their distinct conical teeth.
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Many scientists study how toothed whales use echolocation to hunt for fish in deep waters.
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Dolphins are classified as toothed whales due to their simple teeth, which help them catch their prey.
Synonyms
A group of whales with teeth, like dolphins and porpoises
Surface Forms
Morphology
This is a straightforward adjective + noun composition: 'toothed' (having teeth) modifies 'whale', so a learner who knows both words can infer it denotes a whale that has teeth (as opposed to baleen). The meaning is fully compositional and mirrors equivalent constructions in many languages, making it immediately understandable to B1 learners.
Etymology
Toothed whale names a whale that has real teeth instead of soft feeding plates, so it refers to the group of whales that 'have teeth' and hunt fish or squid rather than 'filter' food from the water.