SPECIES PAPER, HOT OFF THE PRESS! 🚨📰‼️📋 I have been WAITING for this day. Discussing species potential in killer whales has been one of my favorite pastimes for the last several years. Taxonomy fascinates me, especially relating to killer whales & of course, ctenophores. So here we have it. A long awaited killer whale taxonomy revision proposal. Instead of all ecotypes under the Genus species, “Orcinus orca”, this paper proposed that residents be named, “Orcinus ater” and Biggs/transients be named, “Orcinus recctipinnus”. Why these names? Well, they come from Charles Scammon and Edward Cole, from 1869 & translated “rectipinnus” is Latin for “straight” and “ater” is Latin for “black”. Orcinus orca was the name bestowed on killer whales by Carl Linnaeus in 1758. Both “rectipinnus” and “ater” have appeared in potential species names for orcas before, like Grampus rectipinna (Scheffer 1942), and Orca ater fusca (Dall 1874). (Read this naming part of the paper, it’s really fascinating!) Now what? Taxonomists from the Society for Marine Mammal Committee on Taxonomy will have a final say on species status from this proposal. If approved, they’ll become the accepted scientific names for the animals from now on. BUT ISNT THIS SO EXCITING?!?!!?!??! ##KillerWhale#Orca ##MarineBiology#Taxonomy #MarineBiologist #marinemammals#MarineMammalshins ##NewSpecies#BreakingNews #SalishSea #Wildlife