Hourglass dolphin
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phylum | Chordata | The hourglass dolphin is a small dolphin in the family Delphinidae that inhabits Antarctic and subantarctic waters.
The dolphin has rarely been seen. It was identified as a new species by Qouy and Galmard in 1824 from a drawing made in the South Pacific in 1820. It is the only cetacean to have been widely accepted as a species solely on witness accounts. By 1960, despite decades of whaling in the Southern Ocean, only three specimens had been recovered. As of 2010 only 6 complete and 14 partial specimens had been examined. Further information was obtained from 4 strandings and boats which searched for the dolphins in areas rarely visited by ships.
Get back to Odontoceti |
class | Mammalia | |
infraclass | Eutheria | |
order | Cetacea | |
suborder | Odontoceti | |
family | Delphinidae | |
genus | Lagenorhynchus | |
species | L. cruciger |