''Meherrinia'' is an

extinct Extinction is the termination of an organism by the death of its Endling, last member. A taxon may become Functional extinction, functionally extinct before the death of its last member if it loses the capacity to Reproduction, reproduce and ...

genus Genus (; : genera ) is a taxonomic rank above species and below family (taxonomy), family as used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In bino ...

of inioid

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 ...

from the

Meherrin River The Meherrin River is a long 6th order tributary to the Chowan River that joins in Hertford County, North Carolina. A twenty-foot-high dam on the river creates a reservoir in Emporia. For most of its length, the Meherrin is not large enough ...

, North Carolina, in the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

. First described in 2012, the dolphin is, in most respects, intermediate in form between the living

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 ...

and the

La Plata dolphin The La Plata dolphin, franciscana or toninha (''Pontoporia blainvillei'') is a species of river dolphin found in coastal Atlantic waters of southeastern South America. It is a member of the Inioidea group and the only one that lives in the ocean ...

, although it is probably more closely related to the former. However, the fossil was discovered in what are believed to be marine deposits, dating from the late

Miocene The Miocene ( ) is the first epoch (geology), geological epoch of the Neogene Period and extends from about (Ma). The Miocene was named by Scottish geologist Charles Lyell; the name comes from the Greek words (', "less") and (', "new") and mea ...

, whereas the Amazon river dolphin is an exclusively freshwater species. ''Meherrinia'' therefore was, as of 2012, the only known marine genus of the family Iniidae, although others have been discovered since. Only one species is known.

References

Fossils of the United States Prehistoric toothed whales Monotypic prehistoric cetacean genera Fossil taxa described in 2012 Miocene cetaceans {{paleo-whale-stub