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Globicephala macrorhynchus (短肢領航鯨)

Scientific Name: Globicephala macrorhynchus
Chinese name: 短肢領航鯨

 

~~ Introduction ~~
Globicephala macrorhynchus , or the short-finned pilot whale , lives primarily in warm aquatic tropical and subtropical regions. In the Pacific Ocean, they can be distributed as north as Japan and Central California, and as south as northeastern Australia . They are characterized by their bulbous skulls, slim and fit bodies, slightly rounded dorsal fins, similar to that of the long-finned pilot whales. The longest difference between the two species is the ratio between the pectoral fins and the body length; the pectoral fins of the shot-finned whales are about 14-19% of their body lengths, shorter than the long-finned pilot whales. However, it is still not easy to identify one species from another.
Paleontologists identify the fossils according to the numbers of teeth and their cranial structures. Generally speaking, the upper and lower jaws of these whales have 7 to 9 pairs of teeth. Here in Taiwan , there have been records of short-finned whale fossils recovered by fishermen in the waters near the Penghu Trench of the Taiwan Strait


~~ Age ~~
Pleistocene-Recent


~~ Classification ~~

Animalia
   Chordata
      Vertebrata
        Mammalia
           Eutheria
              Cetacea
                 Odontoceti
                    Globicephala macrorhynchus
 

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