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Orcinus orca
Orcinus orca L. (1758)
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This website is a demonstrator for the integration of several informatics technologies useful in "in-silico" biodiversity science: Scratchpads, Taverna Player and BioVeL infrastructure for executing workflows. This particular example makes use of population census data for Killer Whales and abundance data for Chinook Salmon in the north-east Pacific Ocean, which has kindly been provided by Antonio Velez-Espino of Fisheries and Oceans Canada. Please do not rely on the data or results information provided for any actual scientific, conservation or policy use. Mistakes herein (of which there are several) are solely the responsibility of the technical parties working on the technology integration. These include: Cardiff University, University of Manchester and the Natural History Museum, London.
EOL Text
The fossil history of killer whales dates to the Pliocene epoch, about 5 million years ago. The fossil history is not rich, but some finds link Orcinus orca to its early ancestors. Teeth, partial skulls, jaw bones, and periotic bones (found in a mammal's ear) have been found and identified in many countries of the world, including: Japan, Hungary, Italy, and South Africa.
License | http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0/ |
Rights holder/Author | ©1995-2013, The Regents of the University of Michigan and its licensors |
Source | http://animaldiversity.ummz.umich.edu/accounts/Orcinus_orca/ |
Killer whales live in all the oceans between the Arctic and Antarctic ice packs. Given this enormous range and their predatory lifestyle, it is not surprising that they are adaptable, with excellent memory, intelligence, and a capacity for social complexity. They tend to live in pods of fewer than 10 animals, built around a stable core of 2-3 generations of related females - mothers, daughters, sisters, and aunts. This is shown by genetic studies of pods living in the same area. Adult females without calves, and adult males, may help care for and train younger whales to hunt, especially when a reproducing female is rearing more than one offspring. Cooperation extends to hunting, and these animals are known to attack and drown larger whales by swarming them from all sides. Orcas may even beach themselves temporarily to snatch seals, or knock them off ice floes by ramming the ice. Their prey includes larger marine mammals, fish, birds, and cephalopods.
Links:
Mammal Species of the World
Click here for The American Society of Mammalogists species account
Orcas are the top predator in the sea and have an extremely broad diet, including fish, gulls, penguins, turtles, squid and marine mammals, even including large whales such as grey and blue whales (2). They spend their life in stable groups, called pods (2), which hunt co-operatively (6). Long-term studies off Canada have shown that orcas occur as 'transient', 'resident' or 'offshore' populations, which have different hunting styles and social organisation (4). Orcas are extremely active and acrobatic; they are one of the fastest animals in the sea and often breach (clear the water), lobtail (slap the tail flukes on the surface of the water), and spy-hop (bring the head out of the water) (4). Females become sexually mature in their teens and produce a single calf every three years until they reach around 40 years of age (6). After the gestation period of up to 17 months, calves are suckled for about a year (6). Killer whales live to between 50 and 100 years of age (6).
License | http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0/ |
Rights holder/Author | Copyright Wildscreen 2003-2008 |
Source | http://www.arkive.org/orca/orcinus-orca/ |
世界各大海洋,冷水海域和近海区较常见。
License | http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0/ |
Rights holder/Author | 杨奇森,2007, EOL China Regional Center |
Source | No source database. |
Cosmopolitan; found in all oceans.
Killer whales are top predators in most marine ecosystems and impact the populations of common prey, such as seals and sea lions in breeding areas. Killer whales are host to some endoparasites and ectoparasites. They are host to killer whale lice (Cyamus orcini), trematodes (Fasciola skiranini), cestodes (Trigonocotyle spasskyi), and nematodes (Anasakis simplex).
A disease that affects killer whales and is often studied is toxoplasmosis (Toxoplasma gondii). While this parasite is often benign, it can have serious and fatal effects.
Commensal/Parasitic Species:
- killer whale lice (Cyamus orcini)
- trematodes (Fasciola skirabini)
- cestodes (Trigonocotyle fasciola)
- nematodes (Anasakis simplex)
- Chadwick, D. 2001. Evolution of Whales. National Geographic, Vol. 200 Issue 5: 64-78.
- Heyning, J., M. Dahlheim. 1988. Orcinus orca. Mammalian Species, 304: 1-9.
- Murata, K., K. Mizuta, K. Imazu, F. Terasawa, M. Taki, T. Endoh. 2004. The Prevalence of Toxoplasma gondii Antibodies in Wild and Captive Cetaceans from Japan.. The Journal of Parasitology, 90: 896-898.
License | http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0/ |
Rights holder/Author | ©1995-2013, The Regents of the University of Michigan and its licensors |
Source | http://animaldiversity.ummz.umich.edu/accounts/Orcinus_orca/ |
According to the IUCN red list there is insufficient data about killer whale populations to assess their status. The data on the endangered species act list states that killer whales are endangered. They are on Appendix II of the CITES site, which means they are not threatened by extinction, but conservation efforts must be employed to help keep them from moving closer to extinction. Killer whales have not been as directly impacted by human exploitation as other whale species. They are occasionally hunted but management of harvests seems to have been effective.
US Federal List: endangered
CITES: appendix ii
State of Michigan List: no special status
IUCN Red List of Threatened Species: data deficient
License | http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0/ |
Rights holder/Author | ©1995-2013, The Regents of the University of Michigan and its licensors |
Source | http://animaldiversity.ummz.umich.edu/accounts/Orcinus_orca/ |
Killer whales are hunted and used for a number of things. In various parts of the world, they are used for oil and meat. Meat is sold for human consumption or used for fertilizer or bait.
Positive Impacts: food ; body parts are source of valuable material
License | http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0/ |
Rights holder/Author | ©1995-2013, The Regents of the University of Michigan and its licensors |
Source | http://animaldiversity.ummz.umich.edu/accounts/Orcinus_orca/ |
Se encuentra en la parte más alta de las redes alimenticias marinas, quizá solo rivalizada, en este sentido, por el tiburón blanco, peces grandes o muy grandes (tiburones, mantarayas, atunes, pez luna, arenques), tortugas marinas (incluyendo la baula), pelícanos, pingüinos, focas, leones y elefantes marinos, manatíes, delfines, marsopas y ballenas (a estas últimas las atacan en grupos). En Costa Rica se han observado alimentándose de tiburones de tamaño mediano y, en una ocasión, intentando atacar una ballena jorobada (Megaptera novaengliae).
Orcas, also called killer whales, are the largest member of the dolphin family. They often hunt in groups, driving a school of fish together and chasing them to the surface. They sometimes patrol along shores, for example when hunting seals. They will even throw themselves onto the shore in order to grab their prey. That is a risky business for orcas: if they beach too far, there is a possibility that they can't get back into the water. A group of orcas lives in the northern part of the North Sea, around the Shetland and Orkney Islands.
License | http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/3.0/ |
Rights holder/Author | Ecomare |
Source | http://www.ecomare.nl/index.php?id=4197&L=2 |