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Figure 5 in Revised taxonomy of eastern North Pacific killer whales ( Orcinus orca ): Bigg's and resident ecotypes deserve species status

Figure 5. Global phylogenetic trees of killer whales based on (a) haplotypes from 452 mitogenomes and (b) 49 nuclear genome sequences. Reprinted with permission from Morin et al. [15] (figure 2; by permission from John Wiley & Sons, licence 5458310335802) and [9] (electronic supplementary material, figure S3b, by permission from Andrew D. Foote). Black branches in (a) lead to haplotypes that are from animals that have not been identified to ecotype (see electronic supplementary material, table S1 from [15]).

Figure 3 in Revised taxonomy of eastern North Pacific killer whales ( Orcinus orca ): Bigg's and resident ecotypes deserve species status

Figure 3. PCA plot of first two principal components based on (a) 88 SNPs: offshore (n = 3), resident (n = 11), Bigg's (n = 30) from data in Morin et al. [15]; (b) 26 microsatellites: offshore (n = 5), resident (n = 250), Bigg's (n = 116) (samples genotyped at ≥20 loci) [56]; unpublished); (c) 3678 RADseq SNPs: offshore (n = 7), resident (n = 52) and Bigg's (n = 37) populations [57,62]; (d) 1 00 000 (subset from 6 371 282) SNPs from 147 high-coverage genomes of offshore (n = 7), Bigg's (n = 14) and resident (n = 126) samples from multiple geographically and behaviourally defined subpopulations (Alaska, northern and southern resident populations) (based on subset of SNP genotype data from [113]. See Supplementary Materials for methods and data set information.

Figure 7 in Revised taxonomy of eastern North Pacific killer whales ( Orcinus orca ): Bigg's and resident ecotypes deserve species status

Figure 7. Photographs of neotype skulls for (a) Orcinus rectipinnus (USNM 594671) and (b) Orcinus ater (USNM 594672).

Figure 1 in Revised taxonomy of eastern North Pacific killer whales ( Orcinus orca ): Bigg's and resident ecotypes deserve species status

Figure 1. Expected range maps for (a) resident and (b) Bigg's killer whales, including locations of samples used for mitogenome analysis (figure 5a, resident n = 106, Bigg's n = 93) [15]. Distribution ranges have been inferred based on published identifications of individuals that are identified by ecotype [48–53]. Sample distributions cover the known ranges of both ecotypes, with the exception of residents of Oregon and northern California, and both ecotypes off northern Japan (Hokkaido) in the western Pacific [48,54]. Sample maps for microsatellite data are in electronic supplementary material, figure S2.

Figure 8 in Revised taxonomy of eastern North Pacific killer whales ( Orcinus orca ): Bigg's and resident ecotypes deserve species status

Figure 8. Vertical images of (a) an adult male Bigg's killer whale (BKW) from the West Coast Transient population of Bigg's killer whales and (b) an adult male resident killer whale (RKW) from the sympatric Southern Resident population of resident killer whales. Images are scaled to the estimated asymptotic lengths of 7.3 m [20] and 6.9 m [145], respectively. Vertical images were collected using an octocopter drone using methods described by Durban et al. [146], provided by John Durban and Holly Fearnbach.

Figure 6 in Revised taxonomy of eastern North Pacific killer whales ( Orcinus orca ): Bigg's and resident ecotypes deserve species status

Figure 6. Illustrations of (a) O. ater and (b) O. rectipinnus from Scammon [138,140]. These illustrations were likely made by Scammon, or made under his guidance from his field notes and sketches. Whether they represent renderings of specific specimens, or composite sketches, is unknown.

Figure 2. Canonical variate 1 and 2 in Revised taxonomy of eastern North Pacific killer whales ( Orcinus orca ): Bigg's and resident ecotypes deserve species status

Figure 2. Canonical variate 1 and 2 plots for cranial shape features that distinguish among ecotypes for (a) skull morphology (resident (n = 17), Bigg's (n = 13) and offshore (n = 6)) and (b) dentary bone morphology (resident (n = 21), Bigg's (n = 12) and offshore (n = 8) specimens) (reprinted from [103]).

Figure 4. Structure assignment probability plots for K in Revised taxonomy of eastern North Pacific killer whales ( Orcinus orca ): Bigg's and resident ecotypes deserve species status

Figure 4. Structure assignment probability plots for K = 3 groups from (a) 26 microsatellites: offshore (n = 5), resident (n = 250), Bigg's (n = 116) samples genotyped at ≥ 20 loci) (56; unpublished); (b) 3340 RADseq SNPs (polymorphic in sample set): offshore (n = 7), resident (n = 52) and Bigg's (n = 37) populations [57,62]. Vertical bars represent the individual assignment probability for each group inferred by Structure (groups identified by shading), with samples sorted by a priori ecotype assignment. See electronic supplementary material for methods and data set information.

publicFeb 2025View details →

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Data from: Revised age estimates for Northern Resident killer whales (Orcinus orca) based on observed life-history events and demographic discounting

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Table 1 in Revised taxonomy of eastern North Pacific killer whales (Orcinus orca): Bigg's and resident ecotypes deserve species status

<p><b>Table 1.</b> Measures of differentiation, divergence and diagnosability based on nuclear microsatellite and SNP data. All frequency-based metrics (FST, F’ST, G’ST) were significantly different from zero at p <0.05.</p><table><tbody><tr><th>divergence metric</th><th></th><th>reference</th></tr></tbody><tbody><tr><th>dA (CR)</th><td>0.007 46a</td><td>[114]</td></tr><tr><th>dA (mitogenome)</th><td>0.003 91b</td><td>[114]</td></tr><tr><th>FST (microsatellite)</th><td>0.21–0.23</td><td>[56,85]</td></tr><tr><th>F’ST (microsatellite)</th><td>0.47</td><td>[56]</td></tr><tr><th>G’ST (microsatellite)</th><td>0.28</td><td>[56]</td></tr><tr><th>FST (SNP)</th><td>0.28</td><td>[15]</td></tr><tr><th>F(RADseq, neutral)c ST</th><td>0.27</td><td>[58]</td></tr><tr><th>F(RADseq, selected)c ST</th><td>0.67</td><td>[58]</td></tr><tr><th>FST (genomes)</th><td>0.32</td><td>[9] (electronic supplementary material, table S2)</td></tr><tr><th>diagnosability (CR)</th><td>100%</td><td>[114]</td></tr><tr><th>diagnosability (mitogenome)</th><td>100%</td><td>[114]</td></tr><tr><th>fixed differences (mitogenome)</th><td>57</td><td>[7]</td></tr><tr><th>fixed differences (3281 nuclear SNPs)</th><td>2–7</td><td>[58]</td></tr><tr><th>fixed differences (6 435 100 nuclear SNPs)</th><td>6361d</td><td>[113]</td></tr></tbody></table><p>a 95% confidence interval:0.00727–0.00772. b 95% confidence interval: 0.00388–0.00393. c Alaska transients (Bigg’s) versus Alaska residents. d Based on analysis of raw SNP data from Kardos et al. [113].</p>

opencc-zeroApr 2023View details →

Potential new species of pseudaliid lung nematode (Metastrongyloidea) from two stranded neonatal orcas (Orcinus orca) characterised by ITS-2 and COI sequences

<p class="MsoNormal"><span>Knowledge about parasite species of orcas, their prevalence and impact on the health status is scarce. Only two records of lungworm infections in orca exist from male neonatal orcas stranded in Germany and Norway. The nematodes were identified as <em>Halocercus</em> sp. (Pseudaliidae), which have been described in the respiratory tract of multiple odontocete species, but morphological identification to species level remained impossible due to the fragile structure and ambiguous morphological features. Pseudaliid nematodes (Metastrongyloidea) are specific to the respiratory tract of toothed whales and are hypothesized to have become almost extinct in terrestrial mammals. Severe lungworm infections can cause secondary bacterial infections and bronchopneumonia and are a common cause of mortality in odontocetes. DNA isolations and subsequent sequencing of the rDNA ITS-2 and mtDNA COI revealed nucleotide differences between previously described <em>Halocercus</em> species from common dolphin (<em>H. delphini</em>) and harbour porpoises (<em>H. invaginatus</em>) that were comparatively analysed, pointing towards a potentially new species of pseudaliid lungworm in orcas. New COI sequences of six additional metastrongyloid lungworms of seals and porpoises were derived to elucidate phylogenetic relationships and differences between nine species of Metastrongyloidea.</span></p>

publicMay 2025View details →

Data from:The foe you know: Observations of interspecific interactions between small cetaceans and northern resident killer whales (Orcinus orca) in the northeast Pacific

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publicJan 2020View details →

Cold call: the acoustic repertoire of Ross Sea killer whales (Orcinus orca, Type C) in McMurdo Sound, Antarctica

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publicApr 2023View details →

Potential new species of pseudaliid lung nematode (Metastrongyloidea) from two stranded neonatal orcas (Orcinus orca) characterised by ITS-2 and COI sequences

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publicMar 2023View details →

Examples of killer whale (Orcinus orca) calls from passive acoustic monitoring in the Gulf of Alaska

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opencc-zeroDec 2015View details →

Data from: Estimation of a killer whale (Orcinus orca) population's diet using sequencing analysis of DNA from feces

Estimating diet composition is important for understanding interactions between predators and prey and thus illuminating ecosystem function. The diet of many species, however, is difficult to observe directly. Genetic analysis of fecal material collected in the field is therefore a useful tool for gaining insight into wild animal diets. In this study, we used high-throughput DNA sequencing to quantitatively estimate the diet composition of an endangered population of wild killer whales (Orcinus orca) in their summer range in the Salish Sea. We combined 175 fecal samples collected between May and September from five years between 2006 and 2011 into 13 sample groups. Two known DNA composition control groups were also created. Each group was sequenced at a ~330bp segment of the 16s gene in the mitochondrial genome using an Illumina MiSeq sequencing system. After several quality controls steps, 4,987,107 individual sequences were aligned to a custom sequence database containing 19 potential fish prey species and the most likely species of each fecal-derived sequence was determined. Based on these alignments, salmonids made up >98.6% of the total sequences and thus of the inferred diet. Of the six salmonid species, Chinook salmon made up 79.5% of the sequences, followed by coho salmon (15%). Over all years, a clear pattern emerged with Chinook salmon dominating the estimated diet early in the summer, and coho salmon contributing an average of >40% of the diet in late summer. Sockeye salmon appeared to be occasionally important, at >18% in some sample groups. Non-salmonids were rarely observed. Our results are consistent with earlier results based on surface prey remains, and confirm the importance of Chinook salmon in this population's summer diet.

opencc-zeroDec 2014View details →

Data from: Vocalisations of killer whales (Orcinus orca) in the Bremer Canyon, Western Australia

To date, there has been no dedicated study in Australian waters on the acoustics of killer whales. Hence no information has been published on the sounds produced by killer whales from this region. Here we present the first acoustical analysis of recordings collected off the Western Australian coast. Underwater sounds produced by Australian killer whales were recorded during the months of February and March 2014 and 2015 in the Bremer Canyon in Western Australia. Vocalisations recorded included echolocation clicks, burst-pulse sounds and whistles. A total of 28 hours and 29 minutes were recorded and analysed, with 2376 killer whale calls (whistles and burst-pulse sounds) detected. Recordings of poor quality or signal-to-noise ratio were excluded from analysis, resulting in 142 whistles and burst-pulse vocalisations suitable for analysis and categorisation. These were grouped based on their spectrographic features into nine Bremer Canyon (BC) "call types". The frequency of the fundamental contours of all call types ranged from 600 Hz to 29 kHz. Calls ranged from 0.05 to 11.3 seconds in duration. Biosonar clicks were also recorded, but not studied further. Surface behaviours noted during acoustic recordings were categorised as either travelling or social behaviour. A detailed description of the acoustic characteristics is necessary for species acoustic identification and for the development of passive acoustic tools for population monitoring, including assessments of population status, habitat usage, migration patterns, behaviour and acoustic ecology. This study provides the first quantitative assessment and report on the acoustic features of killer whales vocalisations in Australian waters, and presents an opportunity to further investigate this little-known population.

opencc-zeroDec 2017View details →

Data from: Killer whales (Orcinus orca) in Iceland show weak genetic structure among diverse isotopic signatures and observed movement patterns

Local adaption through ecological niche specialization can lead to genetic structure between and within populations. In the Northeast Pacific, killer whales (Orcinus orca) of the same population have uniform specialized diets that are non-overlapping with other sympatric, genetically divergent and socially isolated killer whale ecotypes. However, killer whales in Iceland show intra-population variation of isotopic niches and observed movement patterns: some individuals appear to specialise on herring and follow it year-round while others feed upon herring only seasonally or opportunistically. We investigated genetic differentiation among Icelandic killer whales with different isotopic signatures and observed movement patterns. This information is key for management and conservation purposes but also for better understanding how niche specialization drives genetic differentiation. Photo-identified individuals (N = 61) were genotyped for 22 microsatellites and a 611 bp portion of the mitochondrial control region. Photo-identification of individuals allowed linkage of genetic data to existing data on individual isotopic niche, observed movement patterns and social associations. Population subdivision into three genetic units was supported by a Discriminant Analysis of Principal Components (DAPC). Genetic clustering corresponded to the distribution of isotopic signatures, mtDNA haplotypes and observed movement patterns, but genetic units were not socially segregated. Genetic differentiation was weak (FST <0.1), suggesting ongoing gene flow or recent separation of the genetic units. Our results show that killer whales in Iceland are not as genetically differentiated, ecologically discrete or socially isolated as the Northeast Pacific prey-specialized killer whales. If any process of ecological divergence and niche specialization is taking place among killer whales in Iceland it is likely at a very early stage and has not led to the patterns observed in the Northeast Pacific.