''Inia'' is a genus of

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 rive ...

s from

South America South America is a continent entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a considerably smaller portion in the Northern Hemisphere. It can also be described as the southern Subregion#Americas, subregion o ...

, containing one to four species.

Taxonomy

The genus was described by

Alcide d'Orbigny Alcide Charles Victor Marie Dessalines d'Orbigny (6 September 1802 – 30 June 1857) was a French naturalist who made major contributions in many areas, including zoology (including malacology), palaeontology, geology, archaeology and anthropol ...

in 1834 when ''Delphinus geoffrensis'', described by

Henri Marie Ducrotay de Blainville Henri Marie Ducrotay de Blainville (; 12 September 1777 – 1 May 1850) was a French zoologist and anatomist. Life Blainville was born at Arques-la-Bataille, Arques, near Dieppe, Seine-Maritime, Dieppe. As a young man, he went to Paris to study a ...

in 1817, was recognized to be a unique

taxon In biology, a taxon (back-formation from ''taxonomy''; : taxa) is a group of one or more populations of an organism or organisms seen by taxonomists to form a unit. Although neither is required, a taxon is usually known by a particular name and ...

. D'Orbigny also described ''Inia boliviensis'' as type species of the genus. A 1998 classification listed a single species, ''Inia geoffrensis'', in the genus ''Inia'', with three recognized

subspecies In Taxonomy (biology), biological classification, subspecies (: subspecies) is a rank below species, used for populations that live in different areas and vary in size, shape, or other physical characteristics (Morphology (biology), morpholog ...

. Most of the scientific community accepted this single species classification, as does the

IUCN The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) is an international organization working in the field of nature conservation and sustainable use of natural resources. Founded in 1948, IUCN has become the global authority on the status ...

. As of 2016 the Committee on Taxonomy of the

Society for Marine Mammalogy The Society for Marine Mammalogy was founded in 1981 and is the largest international association of marine mammal scientists in the world. Mission The mission of the Society for Marine Mammalogy (SMM) is to promote the global advancement of mari ...

considers the genus ''Inia'' to contain one species with only two subspecies: the Bolivian (''I. g. boliviensis'') and the Amazon (''I. g. geoffrensis)'' subspecies. In 2014, the population in the Araguaia-

Tocantins Tocantins () is one of the 26 states of Brazil. It is the newest state, formed in 1988 and encompassing what had formerly been the northern two-fifths of the state of Goiás. Tocantins covers and had an estimated population of 1,496,880 in 2014 ...

basin was proposed to define an additional species, ''Inia araguaiaensis'', but this remains debated. The

American Society of Mammalogists The American Society of Mammalogists (ASM) was founded in 1919. Its primary purpose is to encourage the study of mammal A mammal () is a vertebrate animal of the Class (biology), class Mammalia (). Mammals are characterised by the presence ...

recognizes the highest number of species at four, although this is only tentative, pending further studies which could either confirm or deny the classification. American Society of Mammalogists Classification Genus ''Inia'' * Species ''

Inia araguaiaensis The Araguaian river dolphin or Araguaian boto (''Inia araguaiaensis'') is a South American river dolphin population native to the Araguaia River, Araguaia–Tocantins River, Tocantins Tocantins basin, basin of Brazil. Discovery and species reco ...

'' –

Araguaian river dolphin The Araguaian river dolphin or Araguaian boto (''Inia araguaiaensis'') is a South American river dolphin population native to the Araguaia– Tocantins basin of Brazil. Discovery and species recognition The recognition of ''I. araguaiaensis' ...

* Species '' Inia boliviensis'' – Bolivian river dolphin * Species '' Inia geoffrensis'' –

Amazon river dolphin The Amazon river dolphin (''Inia geoffrensis''), also known as the boto, bufeo or pink river dolphin, is a species of toothed whale Endemism, endemic to South America and is classified in the family Iniidae. Three subspecies are currently recogni ...

* Species ''

Inia humboldtiana The Amazon river dolphin (''Inia geoffrensis''), also known as the boto, bufeo or pink river dolphin, is a species of toothed whale endemic to South America and is classified in the family Iniidae. Three subspecies are currently recognized: ''I. ...

'' – Orinoco river dolphin IUCN Classification Genus ''Inia'' * Species '' Inia geoffrensis'' –

** Amazon Subspecies ''I. g. geoffrensis'' ** Bolivian Subspecies '' I. g. boliviensis'' ** Orinoco Subspecies ''I. g. humboldtiana'' Society For Marine Mammalogy Classification * Genus ''Inia'' ** Species '' Inia geoffrensis'' –

*** Amazon Subspecies ''I. g. geoffrensis'' *** Bolivian Subspecies ''I. g. boliviensis''

References

;General references * * Juliet Clutton-Brock (2000). Mammals, 381 pages. {{Authority control Iniidae Cetacean genera Mammals of South America Mammals described in 1834 Taxa named by Alcide d'Orbigny