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Globicephala melas (long-finned pilot whale)

Mammalia - Cetacea - Delphinidae

Taxonomy
Delphinus melas was named by Traill (1809). It is extant. Its type specimen is BMNH 363a-44.12.3.2, lectotype, a skull. Its type locality is Scapa Bay, which is in a Holocene estuary/bay horizon in the United Kingdom.

It was recombined as Globicephalus melas by De Kay (1842), Gray (1846), Lydekker (1887), Trouessart (1904) and Turner (1912); it was corrected as Delphinus melaena by Thomas (1898); it was recombined as Globicephala melaena by Thomas (1898), Oliver (1922), Scheffer and Rice (1963), Hershkovitz (1966) and Van Bree (1971); it was recombined as Globicephala melas by Murie (1874), Palmer (1904), Rice (1998), Mead and Brownell (2005), Agnarsson and May-Collado (2008), Uhen et al. (2008), Perrin et al. (2013) and Jefferson (2021).

Synonyms
Synonymy list
YearName and author
1809Delphinus melas Traill p. 81 figs. Plate 3
1812Delphinus globiceps Cuvier p. 14
1820Delphinus deductor Scoresby p. 496
1825Delphinus grinda Lyngbye
1827Globicephalus intermedius Gray p. 396
1827Phocaena globiceps Lesson
1829Delphinus grinda Cuvier
1829Delphinus globiceps Fischer p. 512
1834Globicephala edwardii Smith
1834Phocaena edwardii Smith
1837Globicephalus conductor Rapp
1842Globicephalus melas De Kay
1846Delphinus grampus Gray
1846Globiocephalus affinis Gray p. 32
1846Globicephalus melas Gray p. 84
1846Delphinus carbonarius Wagner p. 305 figs. Plate 352, Fig. 1
1847Delphinus globiceps Nilsson p. 608
1850Globiocephalus affinis Gray p. 89
1852Globicephalus indicus Blyth
1852Globicephala indica Blythe p. 99
1852Delphinus melas Gervais p. 148
1861Globiocephalus incrassatus Gray
1864Globiocephalus affinis Gray p. 244
1864Globiocephalus incrassatus Gray p. 244
1866Grampus affinis Gray p. 300
1866Globiocephalus affinis Gray p. 317
1866Globicephalus edwardsii Gray p. 320
1866Globiocephalus edwardsii Gray p. 320
1866Globiocephalus indicus Gray p. 322
1866Sphaerocephalus incrassatus Gray p. 324
1866Globiocephalus incrassatus Gray p. 325
1868Sphaerocephalus incrassatus Gray p. 9
1872Delphinus intermedius Harlan
1874Globicephala melas Murie p. 235 figs. Plates 30-38
1887Globicephalus melas Lydekker p. 81
1896Globicephalus chilensis Philippi
1898Delphinus melaena Thomas
1898Globicephala indica Thomas p. 99
1898Globicephala melaena Thomas p. 99
1904Globicephala melas Palmer p. 296
1904Globicephalus chilensis Trouessart p. 770
1904Globicephalus indicus Trouessart p. 770
1904Globicephalus melas Trouessart p. 770
1912Globicephalus melas Turner p. 114
1922Globicephala melaena Oliver p. 578
1939Globicephala leucosagmaphora Rayner
1963Globicephala melaena Scheffer and Rice p. 7
1966Globicephala melaena Hershkovitz p. 91
1971Globicephala melaena Van Bree p. 83
1998Globicephala melas Rice p. 119
2005Globicephala melas Mead and Brownell p. 728
2008Globicephala melas Agnarsson and May-Collado p. 981 figs. Fig. 2
2008Globicephala melas Uhen et al. p. 592
2013Globicephala melas Perrin et al. p. 571 figs. Table 1
2021Globicephala melas Jefferson p. 16

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RankNameAuthor
kingdomAnimalia()
Bilateria
EubilateriaAx 1987
Deuterostomia
phylumChordataHaeckel 1874
subphylumVertebrata
superclassGnathostomata
Osteichthyes()
subclassSarcopterygii()
subclassDipnotetrapodomorpha(Nelson 2006)
subclassTetrapodomorpha()
Tetrapoda
Reptiliomorpha
Anthracosauria
subclassAmphibiosauriaKuhn 1967
Cotylosauria()
Amniota
subclassSynapsida
Therapsida()
infraorderCynodontia()
Mammaliamorpha
Mammaliaformes
classMammalia
Theriamorpha(Rowe 1993)
Theriiformes()
RankNameAuthor
Trechnotheria
Cladotheria
Zatheria
subclassTribosphenida()
subclassTheria
Eutheria()
Placentalia
Boreoeutheria
Laurasiatheria
Scrotifera
Euungulata
Artiodactylamorpha
Artiodactyla()
Whippomorpha
orderCetacea
Pelagiceti
Neoceti
suborderOdontoceti
infraorderDelphinida
superfamilyDelphinoidea
familyDelphinidae
subfamilyGlobicephalinae()
genusGlobicephala
speciesmelas(Traill 1809)

If no rank is listed, the taxon is considered an unranked clade in modern classifications. Ranks may be repeated or presented in the wrong order because authors working on different parts of the classification may disagree about how to rank taxa.

Globicephala melas Traill 1809 [long-finned pilot whale]
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Invalid names: Delphinus carbonarius Wagner 1846 [synonym], Delphinus deductor Scoresby 1820 [synonym], Delphinus globiceps Cuvier 1812 [synonym], Delphinus grampus Gray 1846 [synonym], Delphinus grinda Lyngbye 1825 [synonym], Delphinus intermedius Harlan 1872 [synonym], Globicephala edwardii Smith 1834 [synonym], Globicephala indica Blythe 1852 [synonym], Globicephala leucosagmaphora Rayner 1939 [synonym], Globicephalus chilensis Philippi 1896 [synonym], Globicephalus conductor Rapp 1837 [synonym], Globicephalus edwardsii Gray 1866 [synonym], Globicephalus indicus Blyth 1852 [synonym], Globicephalus intermedius Gray 1827 [synonym], Globiocephalus affinis Gray 1846 [synonym], Globiocephalus edwardsii Smith 1834 [synonym], Globiocephalus incrassatus Gray 1861 [synonym], Grampus affinis Gray 1866 [synonym], Phocaena globiceps Lesson 1827 [synonym], Sphaerocephalus incrassatus Gray 1866 [synonym]
Diagnosis
No diagnoses are available