Sexual maturity in Odontoceti varies considerably across species and between sexes. Male Gervais’s beaked whales and melon-headed whales are the latest to mature, reaching sexual maturity only at 16.5 years, while male dwarf sperm whales are the earliest, at just 3 years. In females, Mesoplodon beaked whales and killer whales tend to reach maturity between 10 and 12 years. The dwarf sperm whale and the pygmy sperm whale mature earliest among all species.
Chart Data Table
Species
Female (years)
Male (years)
False killer whale
9
9
Pilot whale
9
14.5
Pygmy sperm whale
5
5
Dwarf sperm whale
5
3
Sperm whale
9
10
Killer whale
10
13
Blainville’s beaked whale
9
9
Cuvier’s beaked whale
10
15
Pygmy killer whale
11.5
16.5
Gervais’s beaked whale
11.5
16.5
Northern bottlenose whale
11
8
Sowerby’s beaked whale
No data available
No data available
Melon-headed whale
11.5
16.5
References (with hyperlinked sources)
Ferreira, I. M., Kasuya, T., Marsh, H. & Best, P. B. (2014). False killer whales (Pseudorca crassidens) from Japan and South Africa. Mar. Mammal Sci., 30, 64–84. https://doi.org/10.1111/mms.12021
Plön, S. (2004). The Status and Natural History of Pygmy and Dwarf Sperm Whales off Southern Africa. Rhodes University. (no public DOI/URL found — doctoral thesis)
Plön, S. & Baird, R. W. (2022). Dwarf Sperm Whale, Kogia sima. In Handbook of the Mammals of Europe. Springer International Publishing. (no public DOI/URL found)
Maio, N. et al. (2022). Life History Traits of Sperm Whales Physeter macrocephalus Stranded along Italian Coasts. Animals, 13(1), 79. https://doi.org/10.3390/ani13010079
Olesiuk, P. F., Ellis, G. M., Ford, J. K. B. (2005). Life history and population dynamics of northern resident killer whales. Canadian Science Advisory Secretariat Research Document 2005/045. (no DOI — government research document)
Baird, R. W. et al. (2006). Diving behaviour of Cuvier’s and Blainville’s beaked whales in Hawai’i. Can. J. Zool., 84, 1120–1128. https://doi.org/10.1139/z06-095
Shearer, J. M. et al. (2019). Diving behaviour of Cuvier’s beaked whales off Cape Hatteras. R. Soc. Open Sci., 6, 181728. https://doi.org/10.1098/rsos.181728
Pulis, E. et al. (2018). Movements and dive patterns of pygmy killer whales (Feresa attenuata). Aquatic Mammals, 44(5), 555–567. https://doi.org/10.1578/AM.44.5.2018.555
Whitehead, H. et al. (1996). Update COSEWIC status report on the northern bottlenose whale Hyperoodon ampullatus. Ottawa. (no DOI — government status report)
