Sato's beaked whale (Berardius minimus; Japanese: Kurotsuchi-kujira) is a little-known species of four-toothed whale, a type of beaked whale.[3]
| Sato's beaked whale Temporal range: Middle Miocene to present,
| |
|---|---|
| |
| Illustration of Berardius minimus (black scale bar is 1 metre [3.3 ft]) | |
| |
| Size compared to an average human | |
Scientific classification 
| |
| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Mammalia |
| Order: | Artiodactyla |
| Infraorder: | Cetacea |
| Family: | Ziphiidae |
| Genus: | Berardius |
| Species: | B. minimus
|
| Binomial name | |
| Berardius minimus Yamada, Kitamura & Matsuishi, 2019
| |
Description
editSato's beaked whale is one of the poorly distinguished species in the genus Berardius. It was distinguished from Arnoux's and Baird's beaked whale in 2019 on the basis of mtDNA differences.[4][5] It generally has a short beak (~4% body length). While other four-toothed whales are generally grey with long linear scars, kurotsuchi-kujira usually have few linear scars, so that the dark, smooth skin contrasts highly with round, white scars of about 5 cm diameter, most likely from cookiecutter shark bites.[5] The common name for Berardius minimus is in recognition of Hal Sato, a Hokkaido-based researcher whose photographs of the whales helped to distinguish this species from other beaked whales (note the image credit in Figure 1 and Figure 2 from the Yamada et. al. paper [5]).[6][7]
Distribution
editThe species' distribution, based on genetic samples from strandings only, is believed to include the southern Sea of Okhotsk north of Hokkaido, the Commander Islands, and the southeastern Bering Sea.[5]
Conservation
editAlthough very little is known about the ecology and populations of Sato's beaked whale, the IUCN has assigned the species a classification of Near threatened based on its estimated low population numbers.[1]
References
edit- ^ a b Brownell Jr., R.L. (2020). "Berardius minimus". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2020: e.T178756893A178756918. doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2020-3.RLTS.T178756893A178756918.en. Retrieved 4 December 2023.
- ^ "Appendices | CITES". cites.org. Retrieved 2022-01-14.
- ^ "Berardius minimus Yamada, Kitamura & Matsuishi in Yamada, Kitamura, Abe, Tajima, Matsuda, Mead & Matsuishi, 2019". Catalogue of Life. Species 2000: Leiden, the Netherlands. Retrieved 17 July 2021.
- ^ Morin, P. A.; Scott Baker, C.; Brewer, R. S.; Burdin, A. M.; Dalebout, M. L.; Dines, J. P.; Fedutin, I.; Filatova, O.; Hoyt, E.; Jung, J.-L.; Lauf, M.; Potter, C. W.; Richard, G.; Ridgway, M.; Robertson, K. M.; Wade, P. R. (2016). "Genetic structure of the beaked whale genus Berardius in the North Pacific, with genetic evidence for a new species". Marine Mammal Science. 33: 96–111. doi:10.1111/mms.12345. S2CID 88899974.
- ^ a b c d Yamada, T.K.; Kitamura, S.; Abe, S.; Tajima, Y.; Matsuda, A.; Mead, J.G.; Matsuishi, T.F. (2019). "Description of a new species of beaked whale (Berardius) found in the North Pacific". Scientific Reports. 9 (1): 12723. Bibcode:2019NatSR...912723Y. doi:10.1038/s41598-019-46703-w. PMC 6717206. PMID 31471538.
- ^ Bidal, Devon. "Scientists Had Never Seen This Elusive Whale Alive—Until Now". Hakai Magazine. Retrieved 2023-01-06.
- ^ Hathaway, Rozi. "An Illustrated Tribute to the Sato's Beaked Whale". Hakai Magazine. Retrieved 2023-01-06.
 | This Cetacean-related article is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. |