Mammals of the WorldFalse Killer Whale
Pseudorca crassidens
- Order
- Artiodactyla
- Family
- Delphinidae
- Genus
- Pseudorca
- IUCN status
- NT
- Distribution
- American Samoa|Anguilla|Antigua and Barbuda|Argentina|Aruba|Australia|Bahamas|Bangladesh|Barbados|Belize|Benin|Bermuda|Bonaire|Sint Eustatius|Saba|Brazil|Brunei|Cape Verde|Cambodia|Cameroon|Canada|Cayman Islands|Chile|China|Cocos Islands|Colombia|Republic of the Congo|Democratic Republic of the Congo|Cook Islands|Costa Rica|Croatia|Cuba|Curaçao|Cote d'Ivoire|Denmark|Djibouti|Dominica|Dominican Republic|Ecuador|Egypt|El Salvador|Equatorial Guinea|Eritrea|Fiji|France|French Guiana|French Polynesia|Gabon|Gambia|Germany|Ghana|Greece|Grenada|Guadeloupe|Guam|Guatemala|Guinea|Guinea-Bissau|Guyana|Haiti|Honduras|India|Indonesia|Iran|Ireland|Israel|Italy|Jamaica|Japan|Jordan|Kenya|Kiribati|South Korea|Kuwait|Liberia|Madagascar|Malaysia|Maldives|Malta|Marshall Islands|Martinique|Mauritania|Mayotte|Mexico|Micronesia|Morocco|Mozambique|Myanmar|Namibia|Netherlands|New Caledonia|New Zealand|Nicaragua|Nigeria|Niue|Northern Marianas|Norway|Oman|Pakistan|Palau|Panama|Papua New Guinea|Peru|Philippines|Pitcairn|Portugal|Puerto Rico|Qatar|Saint Helena|Saint Kitts and Nevis|Saint Lucia|Sint Maarten|Saint Vincent and the Grenadines|Samoa|São Tomé and Príncipe|Saudi Arabia|Senegal|Seychelles|Sierra Leone|Singapore|Solomon Islands|Somalia|South Africa|Spain|Sri Lanka|Sudan|Suriname|Syria|Taiwan|Tanzania|Thailand|East Timor|Togo|Tokelau|Tonga|Trinidad and Tobago|Turkmenistan|Turks and Caicos Islands|United Arab Emirates|United Kingdom|United States?|Uruguay|Vanuatu|Venezuela|Vietnam|British Virgin Islands|United States Virgin Islands|Wallis and Futuna|Yemen|Angola?|Belgium?|Bosnia and Herzegovina?|Comoros?|Cyprus?|Iraq?|North Korea?|Lebanon?|Libya?|Mauritius?|Montenegro?|Montserrat?|Nauru?|Norfolk Island?|Palestine?|Poland?|Russia?|Réunion?|Slovenia?|Sweden?|Tunisia?|Tuvalu?
- Realm
- Marine
Other names: False Pilot Whale
About this species
False Killer Whale belongs to oceanic dolphin that is the only extant representative of the genus Pseudorca. It received its first scientific description 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 or killer whale (Orcinus orca). The false killer whale reaches a maximum length of 6 m (20 ft), though size can vary around the world. (Wikipedia, general species account).
Its recorded distribution includes oceans worldwide but mainly in tropical regions. Still, individuals in populations around the world can have different skull structure and vary in average length with Japanese false killers found to be 10–20% larger than South African ones. In one population, calving was at 7-year intervals; calving can occur year-round, though it usually occurs in late winter. As a toothed whale, a false killer can echolocate to navigate and find prey, using its melon organ in the forehead to create sound. (Wikipedia, general species account).
Description: Wildlife of sulawesi guide, Wildlife of Everywhere (wildlifeofeverywhere.com); general species information paraphrased from Wikipedia (CC BY-SA)