''Orcinus meyeri'' is a fossil species of ''

Orcinus ''Orcinus'' is a genus of Delphinidae, the family of carnivorous marine mammals known as dolphins. It includes the largest delphinid species, ''Orcinus orca'', known as the orca or killer whale. Two extinct species are recognised, '' Orcinus pale ...

'' (killer whales) found in the

Early Miocene The Early Miocene (also known as Lower Miocene) is a sub-epoch of the Miocene epoch (geology), Epoch made up of two faunal stage, stages: the Aquitanian age, Aquitanian and Burdigalian stages. The sub-epoch lasted from 23.03 ± 0.05 annum, Ma to ...

deposits of southern Germany, known from two jaw fragments and 18 isolated teeth. It was originally described as ''

Delphinus Delphinus (Pronounced or ) is a small constellation in the Northern Celestial Hemisphere, close to the celestial equator. Its name is the Latin version for the Greek word for dolphin (). It is one of the 48 constellations listed by the 2nd c ...

acutidens'' in 1859, but reclassified in 1873. Its validity is disputed, and it may be a synonymous with the ancient sperm whale '' Physeterula dubusi''. It was found in the Alpine town of

Stockach Stockach is a town in the district of Konstanz, in southern Baden-Württemberg, Germany. Location It is situated in the Hegau region, about 5 km northwest of Lake Constance, 13 km north of Radolfzell and 25 km northwest of Konstan ...

in the

Molasse basin The Molasse basin (or North Alpine foreland basin) is a foreland basin north of the Alps which formed during the Oligocene and Miocene epochs. The basin formed as a result of the flexure of the European plate under the weight of the orogenic ...

, which was a coastal area with strong tidal currents.

Taxonomy

The remains of ''Orcinus meyeri'' was first described in 1859 by German paleontologist

Christian Erich Hermann von Meyer Christian Erich Hermann von Meyer (3 September 1801 – 2 April 1869), known as Hermann von Meyer, was a German palaeontologist. He was awarded the 1858 Wollaston medal by the Geological Society of London. Life He was born at Frankfurt am Ma ...

as an ancient

common dolphin The common dolphin (''Delphinus delphis'') is the most abundant cetacean in the world, with a global population of about six million. Despite this fact and its vernacular name, the common dolphin is not thought of as the archetypal dolphin, wit ...

, ''Delphinus acutidens'', based on two jaw fragments and some isolated teeth found near the south German town of

. He also suggested the names ''Delphinus (Beluga) acutidens'' and ''D. (Orcopsis) acutidens''. The

species name In taxonomy, binomial nomenclature ("two-term naming system"), also called nomenclature ("two-name naming system") or binary nomenclature, is a formal system of naming species of living things by giving each a name composed of two parts, bot ...

''acutidens'' derives from

Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...

''acutus'' "sharp" and ''dens'' "teeth". In 1873, German naturalist Johann Friedrich von Brandt gave it the species name ''meyeri'', citing "''acutidens''" as being inaccurate given the apparent bluntness of the teeth, and placed it into the same genus as the

killer whale The orca or killer whale (''Orcinus orca'') is a toothed whale belonging to the oceanic dolphin family, of which it is the largest member. It is the only extant species in the genus ''Orcinus'' and is recognizable by its black-and-white ...

(''Orcinus orca''), which at the time was ''Orca'', given the similarity of the teeth, reclassifying the whale as ''Orca meyeri''. The remains were then kept in the Stuttgart Museum of Natural History. In 1898, Swiss marine biologist

Théophile Rudolphe Studer Théophile Rudolphe Studer (27 November 1845 – 12 February 1922) was a Swiss ornithologist and marine biologist. From 1871 to 1922 he was a curator of zoological collections at the museum of natural history in Berne. In 1874–1876 he took part ...

said ''O. meyeri'' was a

subjective synonym The Botanical and Zoological Codes of nomenclature treat the concept of synonymy differently. * In botanical nomenclature, a synonym is a scientific name that applies to a taxon that (now) goes by a different scientific name. For example, Linnae ...

of ''Delphinus acutidens'', and there is room for debate on the question of the former's validity. In 1904, French zoologist

Édouard Louis Trouessart Édouard Louis Trouessart (25 August 1842 – 30 June 1927) was a French zoologist born in Angers. He studied military medicine in Strasbourg, but was forced to leave school due to serious health problems. In 1864 he started work as ''préparateur ...

replaced ''Orca'' with ''Orcinus'' and described the whale as ''Orcinus meyeri''. In 1905, Austrian paleobiologist Othenio Abel considered ''D. acutidens'' to be synonymous with the sperm whale '' Physeterula dubusi'', however he was unsure if ''O. meyeri'' was also a synonym.

Description

The largest of the jaw fragments measured in length and in height. 18 isolated teeth were found, ranging in size from in height and in width at the base. In comparison, the modern killer whale has teeth about in height and in diameter. The animal in life would probably have had 48 conical teeth in total, in comparison to the modern

(''O. orca'') which has 40 to 56. The teeth of ''O. meyeri'' are distinct from the modern killer whale by having two vertical grooves originating at the tip.

Paleoecology

The ''Orcinus'' lineage, like many other predatory marine lineages, may have fished up the food chain and progressively evolved to eat bigger and bigger food items, with Pliocene killer whales able to hunt large fish, and the modern killer whale able to hunt large whales. Stockach is situated in the

, which dates to the

, and was submerged in the Western Paratethys Sea. The basin represents

coastal waters The coast, also known as the coastline or seashore, is defined as the area where land meets the ocean, or as a line that forms the boundary between the land and the coastline. The Earth has around of coastline. Coasts are important zones in n ...

and strong tidal currents, with an average depth of less than . Central Europe, at this time, probably represented an

upwelling Upwelling is an oceanographic phenomenon that involves wind-driven motion of dense, cooler, and usually nutrient-rich water from deep water towards the ocean surface. It replaces the warmer and usually nutrient-depleted surface water. The nut ...

area along a continental shelf, which attracted a variety of sea life, including swarming fish. Land was probably dominated by nearshore swamps which emptied into the sea, and the area featured ancient beavers, hedgehogs, several river turtle species, and various other semi-aquatic creatures. The sea progressively moved southwards, and the connection to the ocean closed about 17

million years ago The abbreviation Myr, "million years", is a unit of a quantity of (i.e. ) years, or 31.556926 teraseconds. Usage Myr (million years) is in common use in fields such as Earth science and cosmology. Myr is also used with Mya (million years ago) ...

(mya), turning the area into a system of

brackish Brackish water, sometimes termed brack water, is water occurring in a natural environment that has more salinity than freshwater, but not as much as seawater. It may result from mixing seawater (salt water) and fresh water together, as in estu ...

and freshwater lakes.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q55627818 Cetacean genera Orcas Miocene cetaceans Miocene mammals of Europe Fossil taxa described in 1873 Nomina dubia

Taxonomy

Description

Paleoecology

See also

References