Orcinus ater

(Cope, 1869)

Resident Killer Whale

Taxonomy

Subclass : Theria
Infraclass : Placentalia
Magnorder : Boreoeutheria
Superorder : Laurasiatheria
Order : Artiodactyla
Suborder : Whippomorpha
Infraorder : Cetacea
Parvorder : Odontoceti
Superfamily : Delphinoidea
Family : Delphinidae
Subfamily : incertae sedis
Genus : Orcinus

Species status

Living
Found in the wild

Authority citation

Cope, E.D. 1869. Systematic synopsis of the species of the cetaceans of the West Coast of North America. Pp. 14–32 in Scammon, C.M. (eds.). On the cetaceans of the western coast of North America. Proceedings of the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia 21:13-63.

Authority publication link

https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/6587927

Original name as described

Orca ater

Other common names

Orca

Type material

USNM:MAMM:594672

Type kind

neotype

Type locality

Strait of Juan de Fuca, near Port Angeles, Washington, USA. Restricted by Morin et al., 2024 to "Yukon Harbor, Puget Sound, Washington USA (lat: 47.53, lon: -122.52)."

Biogeographic realm

Marine

Country distribution

United States · Canada · Russia · Japan

Subregion distribution

USA(AK,CA,OR,WA)

Taxonomy notes

split from O. orca, although O. orca remains paraphyletic as a result of the recognition of this species and O. rectipinnus, and further work is needed to establish the species limits within Orcinus

Taxonomy notes citation

Morin, P. A., McCarthy, M. L., Fung, C. W., Durban, J. W., Parsons, K. M., Perrin, W. F., ... & Archer, F. I. (2024). Revised taxonomy of eastern North Pacific killer whales (Orcinus orca): Bigg’s and resident ecotypes deserve species status. Royal Society Open Science, 11(3), 231368.

IUCN Red List status

Not Evaluated

Species Permalink

https://www.mammaldiversity.org/taxon/1006862

Country distribution map

The map below provides a general overview. Most species inhabit only specific regions within countries. Hover over the highlighted regions to see the country name.

Names and synonyms

Present and past (if available) associated names to the species. Click on a name to view its details. If the list is long, scroll down to see more.

Orca ater

(Cope, 1869)

Family

Delphinidae

Root name

ater

Validity status

species

Nomenclatural status

available

Type

USNM:MAMM:594672

Type kind

neotype

Authority page

22

Authority page URI

https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/6587927

Authority publication

Proceedings of the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia

Name usages

Mead & Brownell (2005) (information at https://hesperomys.com/a/9684)

Orca atra

(F. W. True, 1885)

Family

Delphinidae

Root name

atra

Validity status

synonym

Nomenclatural status

name_combination

Authority page

589

Authority page URI

https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/7306383

Authority publication

Proceedings of the United States National Museum

Name usages

True (1885:589, https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/7306383) (information at https://hesperomys.com/a/35039)

Orcinus ater

V. O. Bailey, 1936

Family

Delphinidae

Root name

ater

Validity status

synonym

Nomenclatural status

name_combination

Authority page

348

Authority page URI

https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/25806283

Authority publication

North American Fauna

Name usages

  1. Bailey (1936:348, https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/25806283) (information at https://hesperomys.com/a/35313)
  2. Morin, McCarthy, Fung, Durban, Parsons, Perrin, Taylor, Jefferson & Archer (2024:16) (information at https://hesperomys.com/a/66349)
  3. Mammal Diversity Database (2024, https://www.mammaldiversity.org/taxon/1006862) (information at https://hesperomys.com/a/67250)

Please send any edits, corrections, or unfilled data (including full citations) to mammaldiversity [at] gmail [dot] com.