Organisms

Porpoises

Mammals of the family Phocoenidae comprising four genera found in the North Pacific Ocean and both sides of the North Atlantic Ocean and in various other seas. They differ from DOLPHINS in that porpoises have a blunt snout and a rather stocky body while dolphins have a beak-like snout and a slender, streamlined body. They usually travel in small groups. (From Walker's Mammals of the World, 5th ed, pp1003-4)

National Library of MedicineMedical Subject Headings2026

Structured Summary

Abstract

Mammals of the family Phocoenidae comprising four genera found in the North Pacific Ocean and both sides of the North Atlantic Ocean and in various other seas. They differ from DOLPHINS in that porpoises have a blunt snout and a rather stocky body while dolphins have a beak-like snout and a slender, streamlined body. They usually travel in small groups. (From Walker's Mammals of the World, 5th ed, pp1003-4)

MeSH Record

Classification

Broader headings

Narrower headings

Related Concepts

Knowledge Graph

Loading graph…

Drag nodes to rearrange; hover to trace links; click a node to open its page.

MeSH Record

Synonyms

15 entry terms
  • Phocoenidae
  • Porpoise
  • Australophocaena dioptrica
  • Dall Porpoise
  • Finless Porpoise
  • Neophocaena phocaenoides
  • Phocoenoides dalli
  • Spectacled Porpoise
  • Finless Porpoises
  • Porpoise, Dall
  • Porpoise, Finless
  • Porpoise, Spectacled
  • Porpoises, Finless
  • Porpoises, Spectacled
  • Spectacled Porpoises

MeSH Record

Aspects Covered

18 allowable subheadings

Indexed with the subheadings abnormalities, anatomy & histology, blood, cerebrospinal fluid, classification, embryology, genetics, growth & development, immunology, injuries, metabolism, microbiology, parasitology, physiology, psychology, surgery, urine, virology.

MeSH Record

History Note

98; use DOLPHINS 1968-97

MeSH Record

Previous Indexing

  • Cetacea (1966-1975)
  • Dolphins (1967-1997)

MeSH Hierarchy

Tree Number

AMA Style

References

  1. National Library of Medicine. Porpoises. Medical Subject Headings (MeSH). 2026. Unique ID D019576. http://id.nlm.nih.gov/mesh/2026/D019576
  2. Porpoises. In: Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Porpoise
  3. Porpoises. In: Wikidata. https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q10867