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takyon writes:

A new species of whale has been identified by using genetic evidence:

For decades, Japanese fishermen have told stories about the existence of a dark, rare beaked whale that they called karasu — the "raven." But now, scientists say they have genetic proof to back up these tales. Long mistaken for its relative, the Baird's beaked whale, scientists say it represents an entirely new species.

"There have been a lot of people out there surveying whales for a long time and never come across this in scientific research," Phillip Morin, research molecular geneticist at the NOAA Southwest Fisheries Science Center, tells The Two-Way. "So it is a huge thing to discover this; it's kind of baffling that we haven't seen it before." The team's research was published Tuesday in Marine Mammal Science [DOI: 10.1111/mms.12345].

[...] Some samples were hidden in plain sight. A whale skull from the new species was on display at the Smithsonian, incorrectly identified as a Baird's beaked whale. A Japanese scientist spotted it on a visit to the museum, Morin says. Also, a skeleton was found on display at an Alaska high school. [...] The mysterious whale has never been spotted alive by scientists. Traditionally, species identification involves "detailed measurements and description of a physical specimen," Morin says. "But with whales, that's a really difficult thing to do. And with a whale as rare as this, it's even more difficult because we just don't have those materials." He explains that they're using "genetics as a line of evidence" to prove the existence of a new species.

There were two previously known types of beaked whale — Baird's, which resides in the Northern Hemisphere, and Arnoux's, which lives in the Southern Hemisphere. The scientists said in their article that the two known species "share a common ancestor more recently than they do with the black form."

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