Content deleted Content added
Rescuing 3 sources and tagging 0 as dead.) #IABot (v2.0.9.5 |
|||
Line 38:
The taxonomy is poorly characterised. The two genetically distinct, candidate species/subspecies/morphologies are Bryde's whale ''B. brydei'' and the Sittang or Eden's whale ''B. edeni'',<ref name="Olsen"/> that differentiate by geographic distribution, inshore/offshore preferences, and size. For both putative species, the scientific name ''B. edeni'' is commonly used or they are simply referred to ''B.'' cf ''brydei/edeni''.<ref name=NOAA>{{cite web|url=https://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/species/brydes-whale|title=Bryde's Whale|website=NOAA Fisheries|access-date=11 March 2019}}</ref>
In 1878, the Scottish zoologist [[John Anderson (zoologist)|John Anderson]], first curator of the [[Indian Museum, Kolkata|Indian Museum]] in [[Kolkata|Calcutta]], described ''Balaenoptera edeni'', naming it after the former British High Commissioner in [[Burma]], Sir [[Ashley Eden]], who helped obtain the type specimen. Eden's Deputy Commissioner, Major A.G. Duff, sent a Mr Duke, one of his assistants, to Thaybyoo Creek, between the [[Sittaung River|Sittang]] and Beeling Rivers, on the [[Gulf of Martaban]], where he found a {{convert|37|ft|adj=on|order=flip}} whale, which had stranded there in June 1871 after swimming more than {{convert|20|mi|order=flip}} up the creek—it was said to have "exhausted itself by its furious struggles" to get free and "roared like an elephant" before finally expiring. Despite terrible weather, he was able to secure almost the entire skull and nearly all its vertebrae, along with other bones. These were sent to Anderson, who described the specimen, which was physically mature, as a new species.<ref name="Anderson">Anderson, J. (1878). Anatomical and Zoological Researches: Comprising an Account of the Zoological Results of the Two Expeditions to Western Yunnan in 1868 and 1875; and a Monograph of the Two Cetacean Genera, ''Platanista'' and ''Orcaella''. ''Quaritch'' London. {{doi|10.5962/bhl.title.50434}}</ref> In 1913, the Norwegian scientist Ørjan Olsen, based on the examination of a dozen "sei whales" brought to the whaling stations at [[Durban]] and [[Saldanha Bay|Saldanha]], in South Africa, described ''Balaenoptera brydei'', naming it after the Norwegian consul to South Africa Johan Bryde.<ref name="Olsen">{{cite journal | last1 = Olsen | first1 = Ørjan | year = 1913 | title =On the external characters and biology of Bryde's Whale (''Baloenoptera brydei''), a new Rorqual from the coast of South Africa | journal = Proceedings of the Zoological Society of London | volume = 1913 | pages = 1073–1090 |url=https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/part/70344#/summary |doi=10.1111/j.1096-3642.1913.tb02005.x}}</ref> In 1950, the Dutch scientist G.C.A. Junge, after comparing specimens of ''B. edeni'' and ''B. brydei'' with a {{convert|39|ft|adj=on|order=flip}}, physically mature specimen that had stranded on Pulau Sugi, an island between [[Singapore]] and [[Sumatra]], in July 1936, synonymized the two species into ''B. edeni''.<ref name="Anderson" /><ref>{{cite journal | last1 = Junge | first1 = G.C.A. | year = 1950 | title = On a specimen of the rare fin whale, ''Balaenoptera edeni'' Anderson, stranded on Pulu Sugi near Singapore | url = http://www.repository.naturalis.nl/document/148868 | journal = Zoologische Verhandelingen | volume = 9 | issue = 1 | pages = 3–26 }}</ref>
In the 1950s it was discovered that there were two types of "sei whale" off Japan, a northern form with longer, finer baleen and shorter ventral grooves and a southern form with shorter, coarser baleen and longer ventral grooves. They also differed in the shape of the palate. The former was caught off northeastern [[Honshu]] and eastern [[Hokkaido]], while the latter was taken off western [[Kyushu]] and southern Honshu. Both were caught off the [[Bonin Islands]], but at different seasons. It was realized that the northern form were indeed sei whales (''B. borealis''), but the southern form were Bryde's whale (''B. brydei/edeni'').<ref name=OmuraFujino1954>{{cite journal |last1=Omura |first1=Hideo |last2=Fujino |first2=Kazuo |year=1954 |title=Sei whales in the adjacent waters of Japan II. Further studies on the external characters |journal=The Scientific Reports of the Whales Research Institute |volume=9 |pages=89–103 |url=https://www.icrwhale.org/pdf/SC00989-103.pdf }}</ref> A later study revealed that Bryde's caught off Japan exhibited lateral ridges on their [[Rostrum (anatomy)|rostrum]], whereas sei whales lacked this feature.<ref name=OmuraJapan1962>{{cite journal |last1=Omura |first1=Hideo |year=1962 |title=Further information on Bryde's whale from the coast of Japan |journal=The Scientific Reports of the Whales Research Institute |volume=16 |pages=7–18 |url=https://www.icrwhale.org/pdf/SC0167-18.pdf }}</ref>
| |||