Berardius minimus

Superregnum: Eukaryota
Cladus: Unikonta
Cladus: Opisthokonta
Cladus: Holozoa
Regnum: Animalia
Subregnum: Eumetazoa
Cladus: Bilateria
Cladus: Nephrozoa
Superphylum: Deuterostomia
Phylum: Chordata
Subphylum: Vertebrata
Infraphylum: Gnathostomata
Megaclassis: Osteichthyes
Cladus: Sarcopterygii
Cladus: Rhipidistia
Cladus: Tetrapodomorpha
Cladus: Eotetrapodiformes
Cladus: Elpistostegalia
Superclassis: Tetrapoda
Cladus: Reptiliomorpha
Cladus: Amniota
Cladus: Synapsida
Cladus: Eupelycosauria
Cladus: Sphenacodontia
Cladus: Sphenacodontoidea
Cladus: Therapsida
Cladus: Theriodontia
Cladus: Cynodontia
Cladus: Eucynodontia
Cladus: Probainognathia
Cladus: Prozostrodontia
Cladus: Mammaliaformes
Classis: Mammalia
Subclassis: Trechnotheria
Infraclassis: Zatheria
Supercohors: Theria
Cohors: Eutheria
Infraclassis: Placentalia
Cladus: Boreoeutheria
Superordo: Laurasiatheria
Cladus: Euungulata
Ordo: Artiodactyla
Cladus: Artiofabula
Cladus: Cetruminantia
Subordo: Whippomorpha
Infraordo: Cetacea
Cladus: Neoceti
Parvordo: Odontoceti

Familia: Ziphiidae
Subfamilia: Berardiinae
Genus: Berardius
Species: Berardius minimus
Name

Berardius minimus Yamada, Kitamura & Matsuishi in Yamada et al., 2019: 2

Holotype: NSMT-M35131, adult ♂, skull, mandible, and most of postcranial skeleton.
Type locality: “Tokoro Town (44°07′14.5N, 144°06′29.6E), Kitami City, Hokkaido, Japan, southern Okhotsk Sea, North Pacific”.

Native distribution areas

North Pacific Ocean (between 40°N and 60°N, and 140°E and 160°W).

References
Primary references

Yamada, T.K., Kitamura, S., Abe, S., Tajima, Y., Matsuda, A., Mead, J.G. & Matsuishi, T.F. 2019. Description of A New Species of Beaked Whale (Berardius) found in the North Pacific. Scientific Reports 9: 12723. DOI: 10.1038/s41598-019-46703-w Reference page.

Sato's beaked whale (Berardius minimus) is a little-known species of four-toothed whale.[3]
Description

Sato's beaked whale is one of the poorly distinguished species in the genus Berardius. It was distinguished from Arnoux's and Baird's beaked whale in 2019 on the basis of mtDNA differences.[4][5] It generally has a short beak (~4% body length). While other four-toothed whales are generally grey with scars, kurotsuchis usually have few linear scars, so that the dark, smooth skin contrasts highly with round, white scars of about 5 cm diameter (from cookiecutter shark bites).[5] The common name for Berardius minimus is in recognition of Hal Sato, a Hokkaido-based researcher whose photographs of the whales helped to distinguish this species from other beaked whales (note the image credit in Figure 1 and Figure 2 from the Yamada et. al. paper [5]).[6][7]
Distribution

The species' distribution, based on genetic samples from strandings only, is believed to include the sea around Japan, the Russian Federation, and Alaska.[1]
Conservation

Although very little is known about the ecology and populations of Sato's beaked whale, the IUCN has assigned the species a classification of Near threatened based on its estimated low population numbers.[1]
References

Brownell Jr., R.L. (2020). "Sato's Beaked Whale". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2020. Retrieved 17 July 2021.
"Appendices | CITES". cites.org. Retrieved 2022-01-14.
"Berardius minimus Yamada, Kitamura & Matsuishi in Yamada, Kitamura, Abe, Tajima, Matsuda, Mead & Matsuishi, 2019". Catalogue of Life. Species 2000: Leiden, the Netherlands. Retrieved 17 July 2021.
Morin, P. A.; Scott Baker, C.; Brewer, R. S.; Burdin, A. M.; Dalebout, M. L.; Dines, J. P.; Fedutin, I.; Filatova, O.; Hoyt, E.; Jung, J.-L.; Lauf, M.; Potter, C. W.; Richard, G.; Ridgway, M.; Robertson, K. M.; Wade, P. R. (2016). "Genetic structure of the beaked whale genus Berardius in the North Pacific, with genetic evidence for a new species". Marine Mammal Science. 33: 96–111. doi:10.1111/mms.12345. S2CID 88899974.
Yamada, T.K.; Kitamura, S.; Abe, S.; Tajima, Y.; Matsuda, A.; Mead, J.G.; Matsuishi, T.F. (2019). "Description of a new species of beaked whale (Berardius) found in the North Pacific". Scientific Reports. 9 (1): 12723. Bibcode:2019NatSR...912723Y. doi:10.1038/s41598-019-46703-w. PMC 6717206. PMID 31471538.
Bidal, Devon. "Scientists Had Never Seen This Elusive Whale Alive—Until Now". Hakai Magazine. Retrieved 2023-01-06.
Hathaway, Rozi. "An Illustrated Tribute to the Sato's Beaked Whale". Hakai Magazine. Retrieved 2023-01-06.