This family include 21 species of beaked whales.

All are medium to large-sized animals, with the females typically larger than the males.

With 3 exceptions (the two Berardius species and Tasmacetus) it is only the males that have 1 or 2 pairs of functional teeth on their lower jaw.

The Ziphiidae contains the ocean’s most mysterious whales; in some cases only surplus of skulls or partial skeletons exist as evidence of living species at sea.

It is expected that future revisions of this family will occur as each and every sighting of these species increases our knowledge.