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The orca (Orcinus orca), or killer whale, is a toothed whale and the largest member of the oceanic dolphin family. It is the only extant species in the genus Orcinus and is recognizable by its black-and-white patterned body. A cosmopolitan species, it is found in diverse marine environments, from Arctic to Antarctic regions to tropical seas.
The orca's anatomy is adapted to hearing underwater rather than in air. Incoming sounds, including echoes, are collected by the lower mandible , which functions as the orca's outer ear . The remaining parts of the two ears, in the auditory bullae , are connected to the rear of the lower mandible.
The genus Orcinus was published by Leopold Fitzinger in 1860, [4] its type species is the orca named by Linnaeus in 1758 as Delphinus orca.Taxonomic arrangements of delphinids published by workers before and after Fitzinger, such as John Edward Gray as Orca in 1846 and Orca (Gladiator) in 1870, are recognized as synonyms of Orcinus.
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Marine life can be roughly grouped into autotrophs and heterotrophs according to their roles within the food web: the former include photosynthetic and the much rarer chemosynthetic organisms (chemoautotrophs) that can convert inorganic molecules into organic compounds using energy from sunlight or exothermic oxidation, such as cyanobacteria ...
V. Thrasher whale (probably the orca, mistaken as a separate species in the North Atlantic). Melville states that little is known of the whale, but it has been observed to mount the Folio whale's back as it swims, working its way upwards by flogging the larger whale with its tail.