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Platanistidae
Platanistidae is a family of river dolphins containing the extant Ganges river dolphin and Indus river dolphin (both in the genus '' Platanista'') but also extinct relatives from marine deposits in the Neogene. The Amazon river dolphin, Yangtze river dolphin, and franciscana were once thought to belong to Platanistidae (e.g. Simpson, 1945), but cladistic and DNA studies beginning in the 1990s showed that the former three taxa are more closely related to Delphinoidea than to the South Asian river dolphin. The extinct odontocete families Allodelphinidae and Squalodelphinidae Squalodelphinidae is a family of primitive platanistoid river dolphins found in marine deposits in the eastern Pacific, western Atlantic, and Europe. Description Distinguishing features of Squalodelphinidae include a moderately elongated and ta ... are closely related to Platanistidae. Fossils from this clade have been found in deposits in North and South America, Europe, and Central Asia. References ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
River Dolphin
River dolphins are a polyphyletic group of fully aquatic mammals that reside exclusively in freshwater or brackish water. They are an informal grouping of dolphins, which itself is a paraphyletic group within the infraorder Cetacea. Extant river dolphins are placed in two superfamilies, Platanistoidea and Inioidea. They comprise the families Platanistidae (the South Asian dolphins), the recently extinct Lipotidae (Yangtze river dolphin), Iniidae (the Amazonian dolphins) and Pontoporiidae. There are five extant species of river dolphins. River dolphins, alongside other cetaceans, belong to the clade Artiodactyla, with even-toed ungulates, and their closest living relatives the hippopotamuses, from which they diverged about 40 million years ago. Specific types of Dolphins can be pink. River dolphins are relatively small compared to other dolphins, having evolved to survive in warm, shallow water and strong river currents. They range in size from the long South Asian river ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
South Asian River Dolphin
South Asian river dolphins are toothed whales in the genus ''Platanista'', which inhabit fresh water habitats in the northern Indian subcontinent. They were historically considered to be one species (''P. gangetica'') with the Ganges river dolphin and the Indus river dolphin being subspecies (''P. g. gangetica'' and ''P. g. minor'' respectively). Genetic and morphological evidence in 2021 has shown them to be separate species. The Ganges and Indus river dolphins are estimated to have diverged 550,000 years ago. They are the only living members of the family Platanistidae and the superfamily Platanistoidea. Fossils of ancient relatives date to the late Oligocene. South Asian river dolphins are small but stocky cetaceans with long snouts or rostra, broad flippers, and small dorsal fins. They have several unusual features. Living in murky river waters, their eyes are tiny and lensless, relying instead on echolocation for navigation. The skull has large crests over the melon, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Dolphins
A dolphin is an aquatic mammal within the infraorder Cetacea. Dolphin species belong to the families Delphinidae (the oceanic dolphins), Platanistidae (the Indian river dolphins), Iniidae (the New World river dolphins), Pontoporiidae (the brackish dolphins), and the extinct Lipotidae (baiji or Chinese river dolphin). There are 40 extant species named as dolphins. Dolphins range in size from the and Maui's dolphin to the and orca. Various species of dolphins exhibit sexual dimorphism where the males are larger than females. They have streamlined bodies and two limbs that are modified into flippers. Though not quite as flexible as seals, some dolphins can briefly travel at speeds of per hour or leap about . Dolphins use their conical teeth to capture fast-moving prey. They have well-developed hearing which is adapted for both air and water. It is so well developed that some can survive even if they are blind. Some species are well adapted for diving to great depths ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Allodelphinidae
Allodelphinidae is a family of primitive platanistoid river dolphins found in marine deposits in the eastern North Pacific region, Alaska, and Japan. Description Kimura and Barnes (2016, pp. 3–4) diagnose the family as follows: Systematics ''Allodelphis'' and ''Zarhinocetus'' were formerly classified as members of Delphinidae and Squalodontidae in the original descriptions. In his overview of eastern North Pacific marine mammal assemblages, Lawrence Barnes noted that these two genera did not belong in those families and reassigned ''Allodelphis'' to Platanistidae, while removing ''Squalodon errabundus'' from '' Squalodon''. Barnes later realized that ''Allodelphis'' was more primitive than extinct members of Platanistidae and Squalodelphinidae Squalodelphinidae is a family of primitive platanistoid river dolphins found in marine deposits in the eastern Pacific, western Atlantic, and Europe. Description Distinguishing features of Squalodelphinidae include a moderate ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Araeodelphis
''Araeodelphis'' is an extinct genus of river dolphin from the early Miocene of the US Eastern Seaboard.Stephen J. Godfrey; Lawrence G. Barnes; Olivier Lambert (2017). "The Early Miocene odontocete Araeodelphis Natator Kellogg, 1957 (Cetacea; Platanistidae), from the Calvert Formation of Maryland, U.S.A.". Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology. in press: e1278607. doi:10.1080/02724634.2017.1278607.R. Kellogg. 1957. Two additional Miocene porpoises from the Calvert Cliffs Maryland. Proceedings of the United States National Museum 107(3387):279-337 Fossils Remains of ''Araeodelphis'' are known from the early Miocene Burdigalian-age Plum Point Member of the Calvert Formation in Maryland. Phylogeny Cladistic analysis by Godfrey et al. (2017) recovers ''Araeodelphis'' as basal to the South Asian river dolphin South Asian river dolphins are toothed whales in the genus ''Platanista'', which inhabit fresh water habitats in the northern Indian subcontinent. They were historically cons ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Indus River Dolphin The Indus river dolphin (''Platanista minor''), also known as the ''bhulan'' in Urdu and Sindhi, is a species of toothed whale in the family Platanistidae. It is endemic to the Indus River Basin of Pakistan and northwestern India. This dolphin was the first discovered side-swimming cetacean. It is patchily distributed in five small, sub-populations that are separated by irrigation barrages. From the 1970s until 1998, the Ganges River dolphin (''Platanista gangetica'') and |
