| 2,019 | Pirotta E. et al. | Anthropogenic disturbance in a changing environment | Oikos 128:1235-1245 | Conservation | Synthesis of the cumulative effects (noise, ship strikes, fishing, climate) on cetacean populations. |
| 2,018 | Jepson P.D. et al. | PCB pollution continues to impact populations of orcas worldwide | Science 361:1373-1376 | Pollution | Demonstration that PCB contamination compromises the fertility of half the world's killer whale populations. |
| 2,018 | Abramson J.Z. et al. | Imitation of novel conspecific and human speech sounds in the killer whale | Proc R Soc B 285:20172171 | Acoustics | Experimental demonstration of the imitation of human speech by the killer whale Wikie (Marineland Antibes): “hello”, “bye bye”, numbers. |
| 2,018 | Árnason Ú. et al. | Whole-genome sequencing of the blue whale and other rorquals | Sci Adv 4:eaap9873 | Genetics | First complete blue whale genome, revealing historical hybridisation between rorquals (blue × fin). |
| 2,017 | Avila I.C., Kaschner K., Dormann C.F. | Current global risks to marine mammals: Taking stock of the threats | Biol Conserv 221:44-58 | Conservation | Complete inventory of the global threats bearing on cetaceans (37 factors identified). |
| 2,016 | Foote A.D. et al. | Genome-culture coevolution promotes rapid divergence of killer whale ecotypes | Nat Commun 7:11693 | Genetics | Shows that killer whale ecotypes (resident, transient, offshore, Antarctic Types A/B/C) diverge genetically in a measurable way through their cultural differences. |
| 2,014 | Schorr G.S. et al. | First long-term behavioral records from Cuvier's beaked whales | PLoS ONE 9:e92633 | Diving | Absolute diving record in Cuvier's beaked whale: 2,992 m and 222 min. Method: high-resolution satellite tags on 8 individuals. |
| 2,014 | Roman J. et al. | Whales as marine ecosystem engineers | Front Ecol Environ 12:377-385 | Ecology | The “whale pump” concept: whales fertilise the oceans by bringing nutrients up from the depths through their faeces. A beneficial return for primary productivity. |
| 2,014 | Marino L. | Cetaceans have complex brains for complex cognition | PLoS Biol 5:e139 | Cognition | Synthesis of cetacean neuroscience: a highly developed neocortex, encephalisation comparable to that of the great apes. |
| 2,013 | Allen J., Weinrich M., Hoppitt W., Rendell L. | Network-based diffusion analysis reveals cultural transmission of lobtail feeding in humpback whales | Science 340:485-488 | Culture | Demonstrates the cultural transmission (through social imitation) of lobtail feeding in the Gulf of Maine between 1980 and 2007. |
| 2,012 | Mate B.R. et al. | Critically endangered western gray whales migrate to the eastern North Pacific | Biol Lett 8:1093-1095 | Migration | Demonstrates that grey whales of the western Pacific population migrate as far as Mexico, multiplying the threats they face. |
| 2,010 | Lambert O. et al. | The giant bite of a new raptorial sperm whale from the Miocene epoch of Peru | Nature 466:105-108 | Evolution | Description of Livyatan melvillei, a giant fossil sperm whale with 36 cm teeth, the largest predatory cetacean ever documented. |
| 2,008 | Aguilar Soto N. et al. | Cheetahs of the deep sea: deep foraging sprints in short-finned pilot whales | J Anim Ecol 77:936-947 | Diving | Demonstrates that short-finned pilot whales reach speeds of 9 m/s at 800 m depth, the fastest sprints documented in a diving mammal. |
| 2,007 | Thewissen J.G.M. et al. | Whales originated from aquatic artiodactyls in the Eocene | Nature 450:1190-1194 | Evolution | Discovery of the Indohyus fossil, a semi-aquatic ungulate providing the bridge between terrestrial artiodactyls and early cetaceans. |
| 2,007 | Turvey S.T. et al. | First human-caused extinction of a cetacean species? | Biol Lett 3:537-540 | Conservation | The paper that formally records the probable extinction of the baiji (Yangtze river dolphin), the first cetacean driven extinct by humans in the modern era. |
| 2,005 | Krützen M. et al. | Cultural transmission of tool use in bottlenose dolphins | PNAS 102:8939-8943 | Culture | Shows that sponging (the use of marine sponges as tools) at Shark Bay is passed on matrilineally, the first utilitarian animal culture documented in a cetacean. |
| 2,003 | Tyack P. L. | Dolphins communicate about individual-specific social relationships | Origins Cogn Sci | Acoustics | Demonstration of individual signature whistles in common bottlenose dolphins. Each dolphin has its own whistled “name”. |
| 2,001 | Reiss D., Marino L. | Mirror self-recognition in the bottlenose dolphin: A case of cognitive convergence | PNAS 98:5937-5942 | Cognition | First successful mirror self-recognition test in a cetacean. Implies self-awareness. |
| 2,001 | Rendell L., Whitehead H. | Culture in whales and dolphins | Behav Brain Sci 24:309-324 | Culture | The founding paper that scientifically formalises the concept of animal culture in cetaceans from the vocal dialects of sperm whales and killer whales. |
| 2,001 | Gingerich P.D. et al. | Origin of whales from early artiodactyls | Science 293:2239-2242 | Evolution | Palaeontological demonstration that cetaceans are artiodactyls (relatives of the hippopotamuses) through analysis of the ankle (astragalus) of Rodhocetus. |
| 1,997 | Frantzis A. | Does acoustic testing strand whales? | Nature 392:29 | Noise | First paper demonstrating the causal link between mass strandings of Cuvier's beaked whales and military sonar exercises (Kyparissia, Greece, 1996). |
| 1,971 | Payne R. S., McVay S. | Songs of humpback whales | Science 173:585-597 | Acoustics | Founding paper that revealed to the world that humpback whales compose structured, evolving songs. It set off the Save the Whales movement. |
