# False killer whale (*Pseudorca crassidens*)

Canonical page: https://creaturedata.com/animals/false-killer-whale  
Data as of: 2026-11-11

The false killer whale (Pseudorca crassidens) is a marine mammal in the whales and dolphins group, belonging to the family Delphinidae in the order Cetacea. It is a giant animal by adult body mass, with a representative adult weight of 1.36 tonnes. Its diet category is invertivore, its trophic level is carnivore, and its activity pattern is cathemeral. Gestation lasts 454.1 days (1.2 years), litters have up to 1 young, and the IUCN Red List classes the species as Near Threatened, which is not a threatened category.

## Quick facts

| Fact | Value |
|---|---|
| Weight | 1.36 t |
| Length | up to 6 m |
| Lifespan | 33.5 years |
| Diet | Invertivore |
| Longest recorded lifespan | 62.5 years |
| Main food | Not recorded |
| Habitat | marine |
| Gestation | 454 days – 478 days |
| Young per litter or clutch | 0.985 |
| Age at maturity | 9.56 years – 18.5 years |
| Litters or clutches a year | 0.12 |
| Active | Day and night (cathemeral) |
| Lifestyle | Marine |
| Conservation status | Near Threatened (IUCN) |
| Countries on record | Not recorded |

## Classification

- kingdom: Animalia
- phylum: Chordata
- class: Mammalia
- order: Cetacea
- family: Delphinidae
- genus: Pseudorca
- species: *Pseudorca crassidens* (Owen, 1846)

Synonyms: *Globicephalus grayi*, *Orca crassidens*, *Orca destructor*, *Orca meridionalis*, *Phocaena crassidens*, *Pseudorca crassidens meridionalis*, *Pseudorca grayi*, *Pseudorca mediterranea*, *Pseudorca meridionalis*, *Pseudorca meridionalis*

## Common questions

### What kind of animal is the false killer whale?

The false killer whale is a marine mammal in the whales and dolphins group, classified in the family Delphinidae of the order Cetacea.

### How heavy is a false killer whale?

An adult false killer whale weighs 1.36 tonnes, which places it in the giant size class (adult body mass over 250 kg).

### What does the false killer whale eat?

Its diet category is invertivore, and its trophic level is carnivore.

### How long does a false killer whale live?

Its lifespan is 33.5 years, and the highest value reported by our sources is 62.5 years.

### How long is the false killer whale's gestation period?

Gestation lasts 454.1 days (1.2 years), with up to 477.9 days (1.3 years) reported.

### How many young does a false killer whale have?

A false killer whale has up to 1 young per litter, with 0.12 litters per year.

## Sources

- [An amniote life-history database to perform comparative analyses with birds, mammals, and reptiles](https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.3563457.v1), CC0 1.0, E096-269. Myhrvold, N.P., Baldridge, E., Chan, B., Sivam, D., Freeman, D.L. & Ernest, S.K.M. (2015) An amniote life-history database to perform comparative analyses with birds, mammals, and reptiles. Ecology 96: 3109. https://doi.org/10.1890/15-0846R.1. Data: https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.3563457.v1
- [Catalogue of Life eXtended Release](https://www.checklistbank.org/dataset/316691), CC BY 4.0, 2026-10-16 XR. Catalogue of Life (2026). Catalogue of Life eXtended Release, version 2026-10-16 XR. Catalogue of Life Foundation, Amsterdam, Netherlands. https://doi.org/10.48580/dgzlf
- [Wikimedia Commons](https://commons.wikimedia.org), per file (CC0 / public domain / CC BY green, CC BY-SA amber, anything else not displayed), 2026-11-11. Wikimedia Commons contributors. Wikimedia Commons. https://commons.wikimedia.org (each file credited to its author under its own licence).
- [EltonTraits 1.0: species-level foraging attributes of the world's birds and mammals](https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.3559887.v1), CC0 1.0, 1.0. Wilman, H., Belmaker, J., Simpson, J., de la Rosa, C., Rivadeneira, M.M. & Jetz, W. (2014) EltonTraits 1.0: Species-level foraging attributes of the world's birds and mammals. Ecology 95: 2027. https://doi.org/10.1890/13-1917.1. Data: https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.3559887.v1
- [Wikidata](https://www.wikidata.org), CC0 1.0, 2026-11-11. Wikidata contributors. Wikidata. https://www.wikidata.org (data retrieved via the Wikidata Query Service).
- [Wikipedia (English)](https://en.wikipedia.org), CC BY-SA 4.0, 2026-11-11. Wikipedia contributors. Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. https://en.wikipedia.org (text under CC BY-SA 4.0; each block names its article and revision).

Cite as: False killer whale (Pseudorca crassidens). Retrieved from https://creaturedata.com/animals/false-killer-whale