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Concept
False killer whale
Summary
The false killer whale (Pseudorca crassidens) is a species of oceanic dolphin that is the only extant representative of the genus Pseudorca. It is found in oceans worldwide but mainly in tropical regions. It was first described in 1846 as a species of porpoise based on a skull, which was revised when the first carcasses were observed in 1861. The name "false killer whale" comes from having a skull similar to the orca (Orcinus orca), or killer whale.
The false killer whale reaches a maximum length of , though size can vary around the world. It is highly sociable, known to form pods of up to 50 members, and can also form pods with other dolphin species, such as the common bottlenose dolphin (Tursiops truncatus). It can form close bonds with other species, as well as have sexual interactions with them. But the false killer whale has also been known to eat other dolphins, though it typically eats squid and fish. It is a deep-diver; maximum known depth is ; maximum speed is ~ .
Several aquariums around the world keep one or more false killer whales, though its aggression toward other dolphins makes it less desirable. It is threatened by fishing operations, as it can entangle in fishing gear. It is drive hunted in some Japanese villages. The false killer whale has a tendency to mass-strand given its highly social nature; the largest stranding consisted of over 800 beached at Mar del Plata, Argentina, in 1946. Most of what is known of this species comes from examining stranded individuals.
The false killer whale was first described by British paleontologist and biologist Richard Owen in his 1846 book, A history of British fossil mammals and birds, based on a fossil skull discovered in 1843. This specimen was unearthed from the Lincolnshire Fens near Stamford in England, a subfossil deposited in a marine environment that existed around 126,000 years ago. The skull was reported as present in a number of museum collections, but noted as lost by William Henry Flower in 1884.
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