Buckelwal vs Gemeiner Wurmfarn

Megaptera novaeangliae compared with Dryopteris filix-mas

Key Differences

Buckelwal is Vulnerable while Gemeiner Wurmfarn is Least Concern.

Taxonomic Classification

Rank	Buckelwal	Gemeiner Wurmfarn
Kingdom	Animalia (Tier)	Plantae (Pflanzen)
Phylum	Chordata (Chordatiere)	Tracheophyta
Class	Mammalia (Säugetiere)	Polypodiopsida (Echte Farne)
Order	Cetacea (Whales & Dolphins)	Polypodiales (Tüpfelfarnartige)
Family	Balaenopteridae (Rorquals)	Dryopteridaceae
Genus	Megaptera (Humpback Whales)	Dryopteris
Species	Megaptera novaeangliae	Dryopteris filix-mas

Conservation Status

Buckelwal

VU — Vulnerable

Population: ~80.0K

Trend: Increasing ↑

Gemeiner Wurmfarn

LC — Least Concern

Physical Characteristics

Attribute	Buckelwal	Gemeiner Wurmfarn
Diet	Carnivore	—
Average Lifespan	50 years	—
Average Length	15.0 m	—
Average Weight	30.0 t	—

Habitat & Geographic Range

Buckelwal

Habitat

Found across multiple habitat types including tropical and subtropical moist broadleaf forests, tropical and subtropical dry broadleaf forests, and tropical and subtropical grasslands and savannas, among 11 distinct biome types. Populations are also found in montane and highland environments at higher elevations.

Range

Widely distributed across Asia (Taiwan), Europe (5 countries), and South America (Colombia, Ecuador, Venezuela). Currently classified as Vulnerable on the IUCN Red List, this species faces significant conservation challenges across its range.

Gemeiner Wurmfarn

Habitat

Typically found in moist, shaded forest floors and tropical canopies.

Range

Widely distributed across Europe (7 countries), North America (United States), Oceania and the Pacific (New Zealand), and South America (Chile).

Buckelwal

Among the most acrobatic of the great whales, humpback whales are renowned for their complex, haunting songs sung by males during breeding season — some lasting hours and evolving over time. Reaching 16 meters and 30 tonnes, they undertake the longest migrations of any mammal. Found in all oceans, humpbacks feed on krill and small fish using cooperative bubble-net feeding. Populations have largely recovered from historic whaling.

Gemeiner Wurmfarn

<em>Dryopteris filix-mas</em>, the common male fern, is a robust, semi-evergreen fern in the family Dryopteridaceae, widely distributed across Europe, North America, Oceania, and South America. It is classified as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List. This species typically grows in moist, shaded forest floors, hedgebanks, rocky slopes, and stream margins, preferring acidic to neutral soils in temperate environments. The common male fern produces large, pinnate fronds that can reach over one metre in length, arising from a central crown of scaly rhizomes. It is one of the most familiar ferns of the Northern Hemisphere and has been used medicinally for centuries, with extracts historically employed as an anthelmintic to treat tapeworm infections. The species reproduces via spores produced in kidney-shaped sori arranged in rows on the undersides of fertile fronds. Common male fern plays an important role in forest ecosystems, providing shelter and habitat structure for invertebrates and small vertebrates across its broad temperate range.