Body size data collected non-invasively from drone images indicate a morphologically distinct Chilean blue whale (Balaenoptera musculus) taxon
| Autor: | Carolyn A. Miller, John W. Durban, Paulina Bahamonde, Matthew S. Leslie, Amy Apprill, Michael J. Moore, Gustavo Chiang, Proud Chanarat, Colin M. Perkins-Taylor |
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| Rok vydání: | 2020 |
| Předmět: |
0106 biological sciences
Balaenoptera musculus Systematics Ecology biology Whale 010604 marine biology & hydrobiology Zoology Subspecies biology.organism_classification 010603 evolutionary biology 01 natural sciences Drone lcsh:QK1-989 Taxon lcsh:Botany biology.animal lcsh:Zoology Taxonomy (biology) Whaling lcsh:QL1-991 Nature and Landscape Conservation |
| Zdroj: | Endangered Species Research, Vol 43, Pp 291-304 (2020) |
| ISSN: | 1613-4796 1863-5407 |
| Popis: | The blue whaleBalaenoptera musculus(Linnaeus, 1758) was the target of intense commercial whaling in the 20thcentury, and current populations remain drastically below pre-whaling abundances. Reducing uncertainty in subspecific taxonomy would enable targeted conservation strategies for the recovery of unique intraspecific diversity. Currently, there are 2 named blue whale subspecies in the temperate to polar Southern Hemisphere: the Antarctic blue whaleB. m. intermediaand the pygmy blue whaleB. m. brevicauda. These subspecies have distinct morphologies, genetics, and acoustics. In 2019, the Society for Marine Mammalogy’s Committee on Taxonomy agreed that evidence supports a third (and presently unnamed) subspecies of Southern Hemisphere blue whale subspecies, the Chilean blue whale. Whaling data indicate that the Chilean blue whale is intermediate in body length between pygmy and Antarctic blue whales. We collected body size data from blue whales in the Gulfo Corcovado, Chile, during the austral summers of 2015 and 2017 using aerial photogrammetry from a remotely controlled drone to test the hypothesis that the Chilean blue whale is morphologically distinct from other Southern Hemisphere blue whale subspecies. We found the Chilean whale to be morphologically intermediate in both overall body length and relative tail length, thereby joining other diverse data in supporting the Chilean blue whale as a unique subspecific taxon. Additional photogrammetry studies of Antarctic, pygmy, and Chilean blue whales will help examine unique morphological variation within this species of conservation concern. To our knowledge, this is the first non-invasive small drone study to test a hypothesis for systematic biology. |
| Databáze: | OpenAIRE |
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