First described by John Edward Gray in 1846, it is the smallest of the baleen whales, ranging between 6 and 6.5 metres (20 and 21 ft) in length and 3,000 and 3,500 kilograms (6,610 and 7,720 lb) in mass.

[6] The pygmy right whale is found in temperate waters of the Southern Hemisphere, and feeds on copepods and euphausiids.

During the 1839-45 voyage of James Clark Ross, naturalists found bones and baleen plates resembling a smaller version of the right whale.

In his Zoology of the Voyage of HMS Erebus and Terror (1846), John Edward Gray described the new species, naming it Balaena marginata.

[10] In 2012, Italian palaeontologist Michelangelo Bisconti described Miocaperea pulchra, a first fossil pygmy right whale from Peru.

[12] A fossil from the Messinian age (Late Miocene) about 6.2 to 5.4 million years ago has been identified as Caperea sp.

Part of the reason for the scarcity of data may be the relative inactivity of the whale, making location for study difficult.

[citation needed] The coloring and shape of the pygmy right whale, dark gray dorsally and lighter gray ventrally, commonly with a pair of chevron-shaped lighter patches behind the eyes, is similar to that of the dwarf minke and Antarctic minke whales and at sea the species may easily be confused with these two species, in case the jaw and flippers are not carefully observed.

[17] Analysis of the stomach contents of dead pygmy right whales indicates that it feeds on copepods and euphausiids (krill).

[19] Individuals have been found on the coasts of Chile,[23] Tierra del Fuego, Namibia, South Africa, Australia and New Zealand.

[24] On account of its relatively small size and sparse distribution, the pygmy right whale has rarely been taken by whalers.

The pygmy right whale is listed on Appendix II [27] of the Convention on the Conservation of Migratory Species of Wild Animals (CMS).

It is listed on Appendix II,[27] as it has an unfavourable conservation status or would benefit significantly from international co-operation organised by tailored agreements.