River dolphin
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River dolphins are a very widespread group of fully aquatic mammals that reside exclusively in freshwater or brackish water. They are an informal grouping of dolphins, which is a paraphyletic group within the infraorder Cetacea. The river dolphins comprise the extant families Platanistidae (the Indian dolphins), Iniidae (the Amazonian dolphins), and Pontoporiidae (the brackish dolphins). There are five extant species of river dolphins, and two subspecies.
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Amazon river dolphin | Ganges river dolphin |
Amazon river dolphin
phylum | Chordata | The Amazon river dolphin, or Boto, is a freshwater river dolphin endemic to the Orinoco, Amazon and Araguaia/Tocantins River systems of Brazil, Peru, Bolivia, Ecuador, Colombia, and Venezuela. Although not a large cetacean in general terms, this dolphin is the largest freshwater cetacean; it can grow larger than a human.
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class | Mammalia | |
infraclass | Eutheria | |
order | Cetacea | |
suborder | Odontoceti | |
family | Iniidae | |
genus | Inia | |
species | I. geoffrensis |
Ganges river dolphin
phylum | Chordata | The South Asian river dolphin is a freshwater or river dolphin found in India, Bangladesh, Nepal and Pakistan which is split into two subspecies, the Ganges river dolphin and Indus river dolphin. The Ganges river dolphin is primarily found in the Ganges and Brahmaputra Rivers and their tributaries in Bangladesh, India and Nepal. From the 1970s until 1998, they were regarded as separate species; however, in 1998, their classification was changed from two separate species to subspecies of a single species (see taxonomy below). The Ganges river dolphin has been recognized by the government of India as its National Aquatic Animal.
Get back to River dolphin |
class | Mammalia | |
infraclass | Eutheria | |
order | Cetacea | |
suborder | Odontoceti | |
family | Platanistidae | |
genus | Platanista | |
species | P. gangetica |