Balaenopter omurai
Conservation status
Not evaluated
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia Phylum: Chordata Class: Mammalia Subclass: Eutheria Order: Cetacea Suborder: Mysticeti Family: Balaenoptiidae Genus: Balaenoptera Species: B. omurai
Binomial name
Balaenoptera omurai Wada et al., 2003

Cetaceans Portal

Balaenoptera omurai is a species of whale about which almost nothing is known. It lacks a common name. The announcement of the discovery of this whale was made in the November 20, 2003 edition of Nature (426, 278-281) by three Japanese scientists Shiro Wada, Masayuki Oishi and Tadasu K. Yamada. The conservation status of a species is an indicator of the likelihood of that species continuing to survive either in the present day or the future. ... Scientific classification or biological classification is a method by which biologists group and categorize species of organisms. ... Animalia redirects here. ... Typical Classes Subphylum Urochordata - Tunicates Ascidiacea Thaliacea Larvacea Subphylum Cephalochordata - Lancelets Subphylum Myxini - Hagfishes Subphylum Vertebrata - Vertebrates Petromyzontida - Lampreys Placodermi (extinct) Chondrichthyes - Cartilaginous fishes Acanthodii (extinct) Actinopterygii - Ray-finned fishes Actinistia - Coelacanths Dipnoi - Lungfishes Amphibia - Amphibians Reptilia - Reptiles Aves - Birds Mammalia - Mammals Chordates (phylum Chordata) include the vertebrates, together with... Subclasses Allotheria* Order Multituberculata (extinct) Order Volaticotheria (extinct) Order Palaeoryctoides (extinct) Order Triconodonta (extinct) Order Docodonta (extinct) Prototheria Order Monotremata Theria Infraclass Trituberculata (extinct) Infraclass Marsupialia Infraclass Eutheria The mammals are the class of vertebrate animals characterized by the production of milk in females for the nourishment of young, from... Eutheria is a taxon (specifically, an infraclass) nearly synonymous with Placentalia, containing the placental mammals and the nearest ancestors of placental mammals (which are known only from the fossil record). ... Suborders Mysticeti Odontoceti Archaeoceti (extinct) (see text for families) The order Cetacea (IPA: , L. cetus, whale) includes whales, dolphins and porpoises. ... Families Balaenidae Balaenopteridae Eschrichtiidae Neobalaenidae Scientifically known as the Mysticeti, the baleen whales, also called whalebone whales or great whales, form a suborder of the order cetacea. ... Genera Balaenoptera Megaptera Rorquals are the largest group of baleen whales, with nine species in two genera. ... Genera Balaenoptera Megaptera Rorquals are the largest group of baleen whales, with nine species in two genera. ... In biology, binomial nomenclature is the formal method of naming species. ... This image shows the fluke of Sperm Whale as it begins a dive into the Gulf of Mexico. ... In biology, a species is one of the basic units of biodiversity. ... A Fin Whale The term whale is ambiguous: it can refer to all cetaceans, to just the larger ones, or only to members of particular families within the order Cetacea. ... November 20 is the 324th day of the year (325th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... 2003 (MMIII) was a common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Nature is one of the most prominent scientific journals, first published on 4 November 1869. ... This article or section does not adequately cite its references or sources. ...

Whether the claim of a new species will be accepted by the wider cetological community remains to be seen. Indeed other scientists were cautious in their immediate response to the announcement of the discovery. Quoted in the New York Times, Dr. Howard C. Rosenbaum, a conservation biologist with the Wildlife Conservation Society, said the Japanese researchers had done "an admirable job to at least open the question as whether this is a distinct species," but added that more DNA analysis needed to be done. If the claim does gain wide acceptance the common name for the whale is likely to be Omura's Whale, in honour of Japanese cetologist Hideo Omura. Below is a list of extant mammal species discovered, formally named, or brought to public light in the year 2000 or later. ... Suborders Mysticeti Odontoceti (see text) The order Cetacea includes whales, dolphins and porpoises. ... The New York Times is an internationally known daily newspaper published in New York City and distributed in the United States and many other nations worldwide. ... The Wildlife Conservation Society, (WCS), endeavours to save wildlife and wild lands though careful use of science, conservation around the world, education and through a system of urban wildlife parks. ... The structure of part of a DNA double helix Deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) is a nucleic acid that contains the genetic instructions for the development and function of living organisms. ... No branch of Zoology is so much involved as that which is entitled Cetology - from Moby Dick by Herman Melville. ...

The three scientists determined the existence of the species by analysing the morphology and mitochondrial DNA of nine individuals - eight caught by a Japanese research vessel in the late 1970s in the Indo-Pacific and a further specimen collected in 1998 from a small island in the Sea of Japan. // Mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) is DNA that is located in mitochondria. ... 1998 (MCMXCVIII) was a common year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar, and was designated the International Year of the Ocean [1]. // Coated in ice, power and telephone lines sag and often break, resulting in power outages. ... The Sea of Japan (East Sea) is a marginal sea of the western Pacific Ocean. ...

In their paper, the scientists describe the species as resembling the Fin Whale in external appearance, albeit smaller. Binomial name Balaenoptera physalus (Linneus, 1758) Fin Whale range The Fin Whale (Balaenoptera physalus), also called the Finback Whale, is a mammal that belongs to the baleen whales suborder. ...

In the third edition of Mammal Species of the World, the "species" is relegated to being a synonym of Bryde's Whale. However the authors note that this may only be temporary. Mammal Species of the World, now in its 3rd edition, is a standard reference work in zoology giving descriptions and bibliographic data for the known species of mammals, An updated Third Edition of Mammal Species of the World was published late in 2005: Wilson, D. E., and D. M. Reeder... Binomial name Balaenoptera brydei Olsen, 1913 Balaenoptera edeni Anderson, 1879 Brydes Whale range Bryde’s Whales are the least-known and in many ways the most unusual of the rorquals. ...

External links

• Whale species is new to science
• Abstract of the announcement in Nature
• New York Times article containing comments of some doubting scientists

References

• Wada, S., Oishi, M. and Yamada, T. K., 2003. A newly discovered species of living baleen whales. Nature 426: 278-281
• Sasaki, T., Nikaido M., Wada S., Yamada T.K., Cao Y., Hasegawa M., and Okada N., 2006. Balaenoptera omurai is a newly discovered baleen whale that represents an ancient evolutionary lineage. Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution 41(1): 40-52.