- A porpoise is specifically, any of the small whales of the genera Phocoena, Phocoenoides, and Neomeris. In a broader sense the name is applied, especially in North America, to various other small whales more widely known as dolphins (see dolphin ).
|
- Porpoises are distinguished externally from dolphins by their chubbier shape, usually smaller size (maximum length about two metres [seven feet]), and blunt, rather than beaklike, snout.
|