Taxonomy and Naming
Pilot whales are classified into two species:
- Long-finned pilot whale (Globicephala melas)
- Short-finned pilot whale (Globicephala macrorhynchus).
The short-finned pilot whale was described, from skeletal materials only, by John Edward Gray in 1846. He presumed from the skeleton that the whale had a large beak. The long-finned pilot whale was first classified by Thomas Stewart Traill in 1809 as Delphinus melas. It's scientific name was eventually changed to Globicephala melaena. Since 1986, the specific name of the long-finned pilot whale was changed to its original form melas. Other species classifications have been proposed but only two have been accepted. There exist geographic forms of short-finned pilot whales off the east coast of Japan, which comprise genetically isolated stocks.
Fossils of an extinct relative Globicephala baerreckii have been found in Pleistocene deposits in Florida. Another Globicephala dolphin was discovered in Pliocene strata in Tuscany, Italy and was named G. eturia. The pilot whales were also close relatives of the extinct blunt-snouted dolphin. Close living relatives of the pilot whales are the melon-headed whale, the pygmy killer whale, the false killer whale and the Risso's dolphin.
The animals were named "pilot whales" because it was believed that pods were "piloted" by a leader. They are also called pothead whales and blackfish. The genus name is a combination of the Latin words globus ("round ball" or "globe") and kephale ("head"). Melas is Greek for "black" and macrorhynchus coming from the Greek words macro ("enlarged") and rhynchus ("snout" or "beak").
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