Feresa

Feresa is a monotypic genus of oceanic dolphin, family Delphinidae, containing the single species Feresa attenuata, the pygmy killer whale, a poorly known and rarely seen cetacean that shares physical characteristics with the orca, from which its common name derives, and is the smallest cetacean species whose common name includes the word whale. First described by John Gray in 1874 from two skulls, it was not formally named until 1954, following a 1952 sighting, by the Japanese cetologist Munesato Yamada. Dark gray to black on the cape with a sharp change to lighter gray on the sides, it has been observed as extremely aggressive in captivity, though this behavior has not been documented in the wild.