Ramari's beaked whale
| Ramari's beaked whale | |
|---|---|
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Scientific classification 
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| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Mammalia |
| Order: | Artiodactyla |
| Infraorder: | Cetacea |
| Family: | Ziphiidae |
| Genus: | Mesoplodon |
| Species: | M. eueu
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| Binomial name | |
| Mesoplodon eueu Carroll et al, 2021
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| Sampling locations in the NA (black circles; True's beaked whale) and SH (yellow circle; Ramari's beaked whale) | |
Ramari's beaked whale (Mesoplodon eueu) is a medium size whale in the genus Mesoplodon. It is found in cool waters of the Southern Hemisphere. The species name, eueu, comes from the Khwedam word meaning 'big fish', as most of the strandings of these whales come from Khoisan territories in South Africa. The common name honours Māori whale expert Ramari Stewart.[3]
It was previously thought to represent an Indian Ocean population of True's beaked whale (M. mirus), although there was speculation that it could be a distinct subspecies of True's beaked whale. However, studies of the Indian Ocean beaked whales found them to be genetically distinct from True's beaked whale, having diverged in the early Pleistocene, and also found them to have a much wider range throughout the Southern Hemisphere. They were thus described as a distinct species, M. eueu.[3]
The holotype is a 5-metre-long (16 ft) pregnant female who washed ashore in 2011 on Waiatoto Spit, south of
References
- . Retrieved 9 December 2022.
- ^ "Appendices | CITES". cites.org. Retrieved 2022-01-14.
- ^ S2CID 239890028.
- ^ Wilson, Rebecca (13 March 2012). "Rare beaked whale seen in New Zealand for the first time | Conservation blog". blog.doc.govt.nz. Retrieved 27 October 2021.