Orcinus
Sign in to saveOrcinus is a genus of Delphinidae (dolphins), in the clade Cetacea. It includes the largest (and only extant) delphinoid species, Orcinus orca, known as the orca or killer whale. Two extinct species are recognized, Orcinus paleorca and O. citoniensis, known from fossils. The other extinct species O. meyeri is disputed.
Taxonomy · GBIF
GENUS
- KingdomAnimalia
- PhylumChordata
- ClassMammalia
- OrderCetacea
- FamilyDelphinidae
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Article
5 sectionsContents
- Taxonomy
- Description
- Distribution
- Classification
- References
Orcinus is a genus of Delphinidae (dolphins), in the clade Cetacea. It includes the largest (and only extant) delphinoid species, Orcinus orca, known as the orca or killer whale. Two extinct species are recognized, Orcinus paleorca and O. citoniensis, known from fossils. The other extinct species O. meyeri is disputed.
==Taxonomy== The genus Orcinus was published by Leopold Fitzinger in 1860, its type species is the orca named by Linnaeus in 1758 as Delphinus orca. Taxonomic arrangements of delphinids published by workers before and after Fitzinger, such as John Edward Gray as Orca in 1846 and Orca (Gladiator) in 1870, are recognized as synonyms of Orcinus. The descriptions of species as Orcinus glacialis Berzin and Vladimirov, 1983 and Orcinus nanus Mikhalev and Ivashin, 1981 are considered synonyms of Orcinus orca, the existing species of orca.