New Whale Species Announced by Japanese Scientists
The number of rorqual whale species swimming in the world's oceans has jumped to eight from six, according to new research by a team of Japanese scientists published in tomorrow's issue of the science journal Nature. The research shows that rorquals commonly referred to as Bryde's whales actually represent three distinct species.
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Yamada, Wada, and Oishi compared the morphology, bone structure, and mitochondrial DNA of the eight specimens killed by the Japanese researchers in the 1970s with that of one whale that washed ashore a coastal island in the Sea of Japan in 1998.
As a whole, the researchers determined from outside appearance this group of specimens most closely resemble a smaller version of the fin whale (B. physalus), but owing to differences in skull shape, baleen plates, and DNA they concluded that the group represents a new species of baleen whale, B. omurai.
According to the description in Nature, B. omurai has an adult body length of less than 40 feet (12 meters) long, a relatively broad and flat skull, and a mouth that tapers from its base.
Based on morphological differences, the researchers also concluded that Bryde's whale and Eden's whale are distinct from each other as well as distinct from the new species, B. omurai.
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