KILLEK, OR GRAMPUS. 445 



OETACEA. mLPHINIDJE. 



(ODONTOCETI.) 



Genus Orca (J. E. Gray, 1850). 



Generic Character. — Head rounded, no distinct beak ; flippers oval, broad ; 

 dorsal fin high. Teeth large, conical, slightly curved, and permanent. 



, KILLER, OR GRAMPUS. 

 Orca gladiator (LacepMe). 



Specific Character. — Black above, white below, the colours being sharply 

 defined ; a white spot above each eye. Teeth -J}: jj or }|:}| ; vertebrae 50 ; ribs 

 11 or 12 pairs. 



Delphmm orca, Linn^tts, Syst. Nat. I. 108 (1766). 



„ gladiator, LAo:^pfeDE, Hist. Nat. des C6t. 302 (1804). 

 Orca gladiator, J. B. Ghat, Cat. Get. Brit. Mus. 93 (1850). 



The application of the classical name Orca to this 

 genus is hardly supported by the few and meagre facts 

 recorded by ancient writers of the animal known to them 

 by that name. The description given by Pliny {Hist. 

 Nat. I. IX., c. vi.) of the capture of an Orca at the port 

 of Ostia in the presence of the Emperor Claudius, in 

 which one of the boats filled and sank in consequence of 

 the commotion produced by the blowing of the animal, 

 would seem to imply that the story referred to a Cachelot, 

 rather than to a Grampus, as both the Cuviers have 



