Scientists looking at orca DNA have concluded that the various populations of orca make up at least three species, and that the divergence point is between 150,000 and 700,000 years ago. These populations have previously been referred to as "ecospecies": "species" is a fuzzy concept at best.

This has obvious conservation implications. I am also wondering about a technical point of nomenclature. At the moment, orcas are Orcinus orca. Will one of these three species get that name, or will they all get new ones? There is no holotype (type specimen), so the zoologists can't study that specimen and try to figure out which kind of orca it is.
.

About Me

redbird: closeup of me drinking tea, in a friend's kitchen (Default)
Redbird

Most-used tags

Powered by Dreamwidth Studios

Style credit

Expand cut tags

No cut tags