''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 pal ...

'' (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 Southern Germany (, ) is a region of Germany that includes the areas in which Upper German dialects are spoken, which includes the stem duchies of Bavaria and Swabia in present-day Bavaria, Baden-Württemberg, and the southern portion of Hesse ...

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

Delphinus Delphinus 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-century astronomer Pt ...

acutidens'' in 1859, but reclassified in 1873. Its validity is disputed, and it may be a

synonymous A synonym is a word, morpheme, or phrase that means precisely or nearly the same as another word, morpheme, or phrase in a given language. For example, in the English language, the words ''begin'', ''start'', ''commence'', and ''initiate'' are a ...

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 K ...

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 wedg ...

, which was a

coastal area A coast (coastline, shoreline, seashore) is the land next to the sea or the line that forms the boundary between the land and the ocean or a lake. Coasts are influenced by the topography of the surrounding landscape and by aquatic erosion, su ...

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 in Frankfurt am ...

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 binary nomenclature, is a formal system of naming species of living things by giving each a name composed of two parts, both of which use Latin grammatical forms, altho ...

''acutidens'' derives from

Latin Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area aroun ...

''acutus'' "sharp" and ''dens'' "teeth". In 1873, German

naturalist Natural history is a domain of inquiry involving organisms, including animals, fungi, and plants, in their natural environment, leaning more towards observational than experimental methods of study. A person who studies natural history is cal ...

Johann Friedrich von Brandt Johann Friedrich von Brandt (25 May 1802 – 15 July 1879) was a German-Russian natural history, naturalist, who worked mostly in Russia. Brandt was born in Jüterbog and educated at a Gymnasium (school), gymnasium in Wittenberg and the Humboldt ...

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

(''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 or Theophil Studer (27 November 1845 – 12 February 1922) was a Swiss ornithologist and marine biologist. He worked on the collections made on the voyage of the and produced a catalogue of the birds of the Switzerland. ...

said ''O. meyeri'' was a

subjective synonym In taxonomy, the scientific classification of living organisms, a synonym is an alternative scientific name for the accepted scientific name of a taxon. The botanical and zoological codes of nomenclature treat the concept of synonymy differently. ...

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 ''préparateu ...

replaced ''Orca'' with ''Orcinus'' and described the whale as ''Orcinus meyeri''. In 1905, Austrian

paleobiologist Paleobiology (or palaeobiology) is an interdisciplinary field that combines the methods and findings found in both the earth sciences and the life sciences. An investigator in this field is known as a paleobiologist. Paleobiology is closely rel ...

Othenio Abel Othenio Lothar Franz Anton Louis Abel (20 June 1875 – 4 July 1946) was an Austrian paleontologist and evolutionary biologist. Together with Louis Dollo, he was the founder of " paleobiology" and studied the life and environment of fossilized ...

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 Paratethys sea, Paratethys ocean, Paratethys realm or just Paratethys (meaning "beside Tethys"), was a large shallow inland sea that covered much of mainland Europe and parts of western Asia during the middle to late Cenozoic, from the lat ...

. The basin represents

coastal waters A coast (coastline, shoreline, seashore) is the land next to the sea or the line that forms the boundary between the land and the ocean or a lake. Coasts are influenced by the topography of the surrounding landscape and by aquatic erosion, su ...

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

upwelling Upwelling is an physical oceanography, 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 sur ...

area along a

continental shelf A continental shelf is a portion of a continent that is submerged under an area of relatively shallow water, known as a shelf sea. Much of these shelves were exposed by drops in sea level during glacial periods. The shelf surrounding an islan ...

, 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 Million years ago, abbreviated as Mya, Myr (megayear) or Ma (megaannum), is a unit of time equal to (i.e. years), or approximately 31.6 teraseconds. Usage Myr is in common use in fields such as Earth science and cosmology. Myr is also used w ...

(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 estuari ...

and freshwater lakes.

References

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

Taxonomy

Description

Paleoecology

See also

References