Inia
Inia is a genus of river dolphins from South America. It contains one to three species.
Inia | |
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An Amazon river dolphin at the Duisburg Zoo. | |
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Size compared to an average human | |
Scientific classification ![]() | |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Chordata |
Class: | Mammalia |
Order: | Artiodactyla |
Infraorder: | Cetacea |
Family: | Iniidae |
Genus: | Inia d'Orbigny, 1834 |
Species | |
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Inia spp. ranges. I. araguaiaensis, I. geoffrensis and I. boliviensis are blue, light green and purple, respectively. |
Taxonomy
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The genus was described by Alcide d'Orbigny in 1834 when Delphinus geoffrensis, described by Henri Marie Ducrotay de Blainville in 1817, was recognized to be a unique taxon. A 1998 classification listed a single species, Inia geoffrensis, in the genus Inia, with three recognized subspecies.[1] Most of the scientific community accepted this single species classification, as does the IUCN.[2] As of 2016 the Committee on Taxonomy of the Society for Marine Mammalogy considers the genus Inia to contain one species with only two subspecies: the Bolivian (I. g. boliviensis) and the Amazon (I. g. geoffrensis) subspecies.[3] In 2014, the population in the Araguaia-Tocantins basin was proposed to define an additional species, Inia araguaiaensis,[4] but this remains debated.
IUCN Classification
Genus Inia
- Species Inia geoffrensis – Amazon river dolphin
- 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 river dolphin
- Amazon Subspecies I. g. geoffrensis
- Bolivian Subspecies I. g. boliviensis
- Species Inia geoffrensis – Amazon river dolphin
References
- Rice, D. W. (1998). Marine mammals of the world: systematics and distribution. Society of Marine Mammalogy Special Publication Number 4. p. 231.
- R.R. Reeves; T.A. Jefferson; L. Karczmarski; K. Laidre; G. O'Corry-Crowe; L. Rojas-Bracho; E.R. Secchi; E. Slooten; B.D. Smith; J.Y. Wang; K. Zhou (2011). "Inia geoffrensis". IUCN 2011. IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Version 2011.2. International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources.
- "List of Marine Mammal Species and Subspecies - Society for Marine Mammalogy". www.marinemammalscience.org. Retrieved 2017-09-01.
- Hrbek, Tomas; Da Silva, Vera Maria Ferreira; Dutra, Nicole; Gravena, Waleska; Martin, Anthony R.; Farias, Izeni Pires (2014-01-22). Turvey, Samuel T. (ed.). "A New Species of River Dolphin from Brazil or: How Little Do We Know Our Biodiversity". PLOS ONE. 9: e83623. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0083623. PMC 3898917. PMID 24465386.
- General references
- Montgomery, Sy (15 February 2009). Journey of the Pink Dolphins: An Amazon Quest. Chelsea Green Publishing. ISBN 9 78-1-60358-175-2. OCLC 42295841.
- Juliet Clutton-Brock (2000). Mammals, 381 pages.