Common names applied to the Long-finned Pilot Whale, Globicepheda melas

Abstract

Four common names were used to describe one species of whale in an article published in the Yarmouth Register, Yarmouth, Massachusetts in 1846: Tursiops truncatus, Mesoplodon sp., Grampus griseus, and Globicephala melas were analyzed to determine which species was the one in question. G. melas is most probably the species to which the article is referring.