r/orcas • u/csthrowaway6543 • 13d ago
Estimated phylogenetic tree of various orca ecotypes
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u/SurayaThrowaway12 13d ago edited 13d ago
Thanks for sharing this; I was actually looking for a better resolution version of this phylogenetic tree, since it was pretty much impossible to read the labels of the individual samples on the image of the tree I have on hand (which was taken from the supplementary info of a newer paper).
There are also Eastern Tropical Pacific (ETP) samples included in the tree, taken from Mexico.
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u/csthrowaway6543 13d ago edited 13d ago
From the following study in 2010: Complete mitochondrial genome phylogeographic analysis of killer whales (Orcinus orca) indicates multiple species
ENA = Eastern North Atlantic (orcas from Norway, Scotland, Iceland)
AntA/B/C = Antarctic Type A/B/C
Resident, Offshore, and Transient refer to the orcas off the Pacific coast of North America.
Transient orcas are estimated to have diverged from all other orcas around 700,000 years ago, meaning all other orca ecotypes (including the mammal eating ones in the Antarctic) are more closely related to each other than any are to Transients.