Orcinus

Orcinus is a genus of Delphinidae (dolphins), in the infraorder Cetacea. It includes the largest delphinoid species, Orcinus orca, known as the orca or killer whale. Two extinct species are recognized, Orcinus paleorca and O. citoniensis, known from fossils. The other extinct species O. meyeri is disputed.

Orcinus

Robert Pittman · Public Domain · via Wikipedia/Commons. May be a photograph of a specimen, or an artist’s reconstruction — an interpretation of a skeleton, since colour and soft tissue are almost never preserved.

On record

Recorded, not inferred
Also called
killer whalePBDB
Sits inside
DelphinidaePBDB
Diet
piscivore, carnivorePBDB, for Delphinidae
Life habit
aquatic, depth=surfacePBDB, for Cetacea
Motility
actively mobilePBDB, for Cetacea
Environment
marine,freshwaterPBDB, for Odontoceti

Time the record covers

At least 3.5 million years on record.

The record covers at least 3.6 Mya to 11.7 ka. No occurrence read is dated outside 7.246 Mya to 0 Mya.

Miocene — about 0 of 47 occurrencesMiocenePliocene — about 4 of 47 occurrencesPliocenePleistocene — about 12 of 47 occurrencesPleistoceneHolocene — about 30 of 47 occurrences7.5–7.2 Mya — about 0.0 occurrences7.2–7.0 Mya — about 0.0 occurrences7.0–6.7 Mya — about 0.0 occurrences6.7–6.5 Mya — about 0.0 occurrences6.5–6.2 Mya — about 0.0 occurrences6.2–5.9 Mya — about 0.0 occurrences5.9–5.7 Mya — about 0.0 occurrences5.7–5.4 Mya — about 0.0 occurrences5.4–5.2 Mya — about 0.3 occurrences5.2–4.9 Mya — about 0.4 occurrences4.9–4.6 Mya — about 0.4 occurrences4.6–4.4 Mya — about 0.4 occurrences4.4–4.1 Mya — about 0.4 occurrences4.1–3.9 Mya — about 0.4 occurrences3.9–3.6 Mya — about 0.6 occurrences3.6–3.4 Mya — about 0.5 occurrences3.4–3.1 Mya — about 0.5 occurrences3.1–2.8 Mya — about 0.3 occurrences2.8–2.6 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences2.6–2.3 Mya — about 1 occurrence2.3–2.1 Mya — about 2 occurrences2.1–1.8 Mya — about 2 occurrences1.8–1.5 Mya — about 1 occurrence1.5–1.3 Mya — about 1 occurrence1.3–1.0 Mya — about 1 occurrence1.0–775 ka Mya — about 1 occurrence775 ka–516 ka Mya — about 0.9 occurrences516 ka–258 ka Mya — about 0.9 occurrences258 ka–0 Mya — about 31 occurrences3.6 Mya11.7 ka7.7 Mya0 Mya

47 occurrences of Orcinus on record. The Paleobiology Database records this as a living group. Bar height is expected occurrences, not a count: each fossil is spread across the span it is dated to, so a tall narrow bar means tight dating and a low wide one means loose.

When

47 occurrences

These are dates about fossils, not the animal: the record can only begin after it arose and end before it died out, so either end may reach further. Shares are expected occurrences: a fossil dated to a span is counted partly in each period it straddles. More on what this infers.

Found in

9 formations

Setana — 42.68°N, 140.31°ECromer Forest Bed — 52.94°N, 1.27°ECromer Forest Bed — 52.45°N, 1.73°ERed Crag — 51.96°N, 1.35°ESanuki — 35.38°N, 139.52°ETangahoe — 39.58°S, 174.28°EGreta Siltstone — 42.97°S, 173.09°ESasage Conglomerate — 35.15°N, 140.32°ENagahama — 35.15°N, 140.32°EMaterana di Sacco — 40.87°N, 16.07°E

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The named rock units Orcinus has been recovered from, largest first. Drawn where the rock is now, not where it formed. 36 occurrences have no formation on record, which is common for older literature.

Found in the same rock

197 taxa

The Paleobiology Database records 45 sites for Orcinus, and this reads all of them. The number is how many of those sites it was catalogued from too. The 24 sharing the most are listed.

This is not a list of everything alive at the time. It is only what has come out of the same ground as this animal and been written down.

Entered from

22 references

Each of the 47 occurrences read was entered from one of these publications, ordered by how many each accounts for. This is not a search for papers mentioning the name. 10 further references are not listed. Entries link to doi.org where the Paleobiology Database holds an identifier, and to its own record where it does not. Relayed as the Paleobiology Database holds them, not checked against what they resolve to.

Media and terms

Media content3

Picture of Orcinus

Credit
Robert Pittman
Licence
Public Domain
Commercial use
the licence allows it

Structured light scan

Licence
In Copyright
Commercial use
cannot be read from the licence given — check the record
Specimen
Orcinus sp. · UWBM:Mammalogy:UWBM:Mamm:26183

3D model

Source
Sketchfab
Licence
CC Attribution
Commercial use
cannot be read from the licence given — check the record

The description on this site

Licence
CC BY-SA 4.0

This is what the site found, which is not the same as what exists.

Keep going

What may have been alongside itDelphinidae through timeThe world it lived on

Occurrence data from the Paleobiology Database, CC BY 4.0. Fitzinger 1860