Two endemic, distinctive types of short-finned pilot whale, "Tappanaga" (or "Shiogondou") the larger, northern type and "Magondou" the smaller, southern type, can be found along the Japanese archipelago where distributions of these two types mostly do not overlap by the oceanic front border around the easternmost point of Honshu. It is thought that the local extinction of long-finned pilot whales in the North Pacific in the 12th century could have triggered the appearance of "Tappanaga", causing short-finned pilot whales to colonize the colder ranges of the long-finned variant. Whales with similar characteristics to the "Tappanaga" can be found along Vancouver Island and northern USA coasts as well.