A Dwarf Form of Killer Whale in Antarctica
In the early 1980s, 2 groups of Soviet scientists independently described 1, possibly 2 new dwarf species of killer whales ( Orcinus ) from Antarctica. We used aerial photogrammetry to determine total length (TL) of 221 individual Type C killer whales—a fish-eating ecotype that inhabits dense pack i...
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fthighwire:oai:open-archive.highwire.org:jmammal:88/1/43 2023-05-15T13:57:40+02:00 A Dwarf Form of Killer Whale in Antarctica Pitman, Robert L. Perryman, Wayne L. LeRoi, Don Eilers, Erik 2007-02-28 00:00:00.0 text/html http://jmammal.oxfordjournals.org/cgi/content/short/88/1/43 https://doi.org/10.1644/06-MAMM-A-118R1.1 en eng Oxford University Press http://jmammal.oxfordjournals.org/cgi/content/short/88/1/43 http://dx.doi.org/10.1644/06-MAMM-A-118R1.1 Copyright (C) 2007, Oxford University Press Feature Articles TEXT 2007 fthighwire https://doi.org/10.1644/06-MAMM-A-118R1.1 2016-11-16T18:31:44Z In the early 1980s, 2 groups of Soviet scientists independently described 1, possibly 2 new dwarf species of killer whales ( Orcinus ) from Antarctica. We used aerial photogrammetry to determine total length (TL) of 221 individual Type C killer whales—a fish-eating ecotype that inhabits dense pack ice—in the southern Ross Sea in January 2005. We confirmed it as one of the smallest killer whales known: TL of adult females (with calves) averaged 5.2 m ± 0.23 SD ( n = 33); adult males averaged 5.6 ± 0.32 m ( n = 65), with the largest measuring 6.1 m. Female Type A killer whales—offshore mammal-eaters—from Soviet whaling data in the Southern Ocean were approximately 1–2 m longer, and males were 2–3 m (up to 50%) longer (maximum length 9.2 m). Killer whale communities from the North Atlantic and in waters around Japan also appear to support both a smaller, inshore, fish-eating form and a larger, offshore, mammal-eating form. We suggest that, at least in Antarctica, this degree of size dimorphism could result in reproductive isolation between sympatric ecotypes, which is consistent with hypotheses of multiple species of killer whales in the Southern Ocean. Text Antarc* Antarctica Killer Whale North Atlantic Ross Sea Southern Ocean Killer whale HighWire Press (Stanford University) Southern Ocean Ross Sea Journal of Mammalogy 88 1 43 48 |
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HighWire Press (Stanford University) |
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language |
English |
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Feature Articles |
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Feature Articles Pitman, Robert L. Perryman, Wayne L. LeRoi, Don Eilers, Erik A Dwarf Form of Killer Whale in Antarctica |
topic_facet |
Feature Articles |
description |
In the early 1980s, 2 groups of Soviet scientists independently described 1, possibly 2 new dwarf species of killer whales ( Orcinus ) from Antarctica. We used aerial photogrammetry to determine total length (TL) of 221 individual Type C killer whales—a fish-eating ecotype that inhabits dense pack ice—in the southern Ross Sea in January 2005. We confirmed it as one of the smallest killer whales known: TL of adult females (with calves) averaged 5.2 m ± 0.23 SD ( n = 33); adult males averaged 5.6 ± 0.32 m ( n = 65), with the largest measuring 6.1 m. Female Type A killer whales—offshore mammal-eaters—from Soviet whaling data in the Southern Ocean were approximately 1–2 m longer, and males were 2–3 m (up to 50%) longer (maximum length 9.2 m). Killer whale communities from the North Atlantic and in waters around Japan also appear to support both a smaller, inshore, fish-eating form and a larger, offshore, mammal-eating form. We suggest that, at least in Antarctica, this degree of size dimorphism could result in reproductive isolation between sympatric ecotypes, which is consistent with hypotheses of multiple species of killer whales in the Southern Ocean. |
format |
Text |
author |
Pitman, Robert L. Perryman, Wayne L. LeRoi, Don Eilers, Erik |
author_facet |
Pitman, Robert L. Perryman, Wayne L. LeRoi, Don Eilers, Erik |
author_sort |
Pitman, Robert L. |
title |
A Dwarf Form of Killer Whale in Antarctica |
title_short |
A Dwarf Form of Killer Whale in Antarctica |
title_full |
A Dwarf Form of Killer Whale in Antarctica |
title_fullStr |
A Dwarf Form of Killer Whale in Antarctica |
title_full_unstemmed |
A Dwarf Form of Killer Whale in Antarctica |
title_sort |
dwarf form of killer whale in antarctica |
publisher |
Oxford University Press |
publishDate |
2007 |
url |
http://jmammal.oxfordjournals.org/cgi/content/short/88/1/43 https://doi.org/10.1644/06-MAMM-A-118R1.1 |
geographic |
Southern Ocean Ross Sea |
geographic_facet |
Southern Ocean Ross Sea |
genre |
Antarc* Antarctica Killer Whale North Atlantic Ross Sea Southern Ocean Killer whale |
genre_facet |
Antarc* Antarctica Killer Whale North Atlantic Ross Sea Southern Ocean Killer whale |
op_relation |
http://jmammal.oxfordjournals.org/cgi/content/short/88/1/43 http://dx.doi.org/10.1644/06-MAMM-A-118R1.1 |
op_rights |
Copyright (C) 2007, Oxford University Press |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1644/06-MAMM-A-118R1.1 |
container_title |
Journal of Mammalogy |
container_volume |
88 |
container_issue |
1 |
container_start_page |
43 |
op_container_end_page |
48 |
_version_ |
1766265439010160640 |