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Iniidae
Iniidae is a family of river dolphins containing one living genus, ''Inia'', and four extinct genera. The extant genus inhabits the river basins of South America, but the family formerly had a wider presence across the Atlantic Ocean. Iniidae are highly morphologically different from marine dolphins by way of adaptations suited to their freshwater riverine habitat. They also display a high amount of sexual dimorphism in the form of color and size. Seasonal movement between flooded plains and rivers is common, due to the variation of seasonal rain. There has been little research done on the family, in particular the species aside from the Amazon river dolphin. Evolution The South American river basins were flooded by marine waters, creating a new brackish habitat that allowed marine mammals to move into them. During the Miocene era, the sea level began to recede, trapping the mammals within the continent. Morphology Their their necks are flexible, since their cervical vertebr ...
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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 classified in the family Iniidae. Three subspecies are currently recognized: ''I. g. geoffrensis'' (Amazon river dolphin), ''I. g. boliviensis'' ( Bolivian river dolphin) and ''I. g. humboldtiana'' (Orinoco river dolphin) while position of Araguaian river dolphin (''I. araguaiaensis'') within the clade is still unclear. The three subspecies are distributed in the Amazon basin, the upper Madeira River in Bolivia, and the Orinoco basin, respectively. The Amazon river dolphin is the largest species of river dolphin, with adult males reaching in weight, and in length. Adults acquire a pink color, more prominent in males, giving it its nickname "pink river dolphin". Sexual dimorphism is very evident, with males measuring 16% longer and weighing 55% more than females. Like other toothed whales, they have a melon, an organ that is used for bio sonar. T ...
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River Dolphins
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 river dolphins are placed in two superfamilies, Platanistoidea and Inioidea. They comprise the families Platanistidae (the South Asian dolphins), the recently extinct Lipotidae (Yangtze river dolphin), Iniidae (the Amazonian dolphins) and Pontoporiidae. There are five extant species of river dolphins. River dolphins, alongside other cetaceans, belong to the clade Artiodactyla, with even-toed ungulates, and their closest living relatives the hippopotamuses, from which they diverged about 40 million years ago. Specific types of Dolphins can be pink. River dolphins are relatively small compared to other dolphins, having evolved to survive in warm, shallow water and strong river currents. They range in size from the long South Asian river dol ...
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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 river dolphins are placed in two superfamilies, Platanistoidea and Inioidea. They comprise the families Platanistidae (the South Asian dolphins), the recently extinct Lipotidae (Yangtze river dolphin), Iniidae (the Amazonian dolphins) and Pontoporiidae. There are five extant species of river dolphins. River dolphins, alongside other cetaceans, belong to the clade Artiodactyla, with even-toed ungulates, and their closest living relatives the hippopotamuses, from which they diverged about 40 million years ago. Specific types of Dolphins can be pink. River dolphins are relatively small compared to other dolphins, having evolved to survive in warm, shallow water and strong river currents. They range in size from the long South Asian river ...
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Inioidea
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 river dolphins are placed in two superfamilies, Platanistoidea and Inioidea. They comprise the families Platanistidae (the South Asian dolphins), the recently extinct Lipotidae (Yangtze river dolphin), Iniidae (the Amazonian dolphins) and Pontoporiidae. There are five extant species of river dolphins. River dolphins, alongside other cetaceans, belong to the clade Artiodactyla, with even-toed ungulates, and their closest living relatives the hippopotamuses, from which they diverged about 40 million years ago. Specific types of Dolphins can be pink. River dolphins are relatively small compared to other dolphins, having evolved to survive in warm, shallow water and strong river currents. They range in size from the long South Asian river dol ...
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Bolivian River Dolphin
The Bolivian river dolphin (''Inia boliviensis'') is a species of the genus '' Inia''. Taxonomy Bolivian river dolphins were discovered by the Western world in 1832 by French researcher Alcide d'Orbigny. The Bolivian river dolphin was briefly thought to be a subspecies (as ''I. geoffrensis boliviensis)'' of the Amazonian river dolphin, ''Inia geoffrensis'', but differences in body structure and the isolation of the Bolivian river dolphin led to it being classified as its own species in 2012. In a study conducted in 2015, it was also noted that any gene flow between ''I. geoffrensis'' (downstream) and ''I. boliviensis'' (upstream) would be a one way path flowing from upstream to downstream due to the Teotônio waterfall between them. Despite any gene flow, these populations would also remain morphologically different from each other due to the differences in the environment in which they reside. Differences in seasonal water depth and speed would result in morphologically differen ...
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Orinoco River Dolphin
The Amazon river dolphin (''Inia geoffrensis''), also known as the boto, bufeo or pink river dolphin, is a species of toothed whale classified in the family Iniidae. Three subspecies are currently recognized: ''I. g. geoffrensis'' (Amazon river dolphin), ''I. g. boliviensis'' (Bolivian river dolphin) and ''I. g. humboldtiana'' (Orinoco river dolphin) while position of Araguaian river dolphin (''I. araguaiaensis'') within the clade is still unclear. The three subspecies are distributed in the Amazon basin, the upper Madeira River in Bolivia, and the Orinoco basin, respectively. The Amazon river dolphin is the largest species of river dolphin, with adult males reaching in weight, and in length. Adults acquire a pink color, more prominent in males, giving it its nickname "pink river dolphin". Sexual dimorphism is very evident, with males measuring 16% longer and weighing 55% more than females. Like other toothed whales, they have a melon, an organ that is used for bio sonar. The ...
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Goniodelphis
''Goniodelphis hudsoni'' is an extinct iniid river dolphin known from the waters of Florida during the Miocene ~14.9—11.5 through 9.1—8.7 Ma ( AEO). The fossil specimens were found in just four phosphate mines in Polk County, Florida. These mines were: *American Agricultural Chemical Company (Serravallian) *Fort Green (Hemphillian) *Payne Creek (Hemphillian) *Gardinier (Zanclean) Taxonomy ''Goniodelphis'' was named by Allen (1941). Its type is ''Goniodelphis hudsoni''. It was considered monophyletic by Mark D. Uhen, Ph.D. of George Mason University George Mason University (George Mason, Mason, or GMU) is a public research university in Fairfax County, Virginia with an independent City of Fairfax, Virginia postal address in the Washington, D.C. Metropolitan Area. The university was origin ... in 2010. It was assigned to Delphinidae by Carroll (1988); and to Iniidae by Allen (1941), Kellogg (1944), de Muizon (1988), Morgan (1994), McKenna and Bell (1997), Hamilton et ...
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Odontocete
The toothed whales (also called odontocetes, systematic name Odontoceti) are a parvorder of cetaceans that includes dolphins, porpoises, and all other whales possessing teeth, such as the beaked whales and sperm whales. Seventy-three species of toothed whales are described. They are one of two living groups of cetaceans, the other being the baleen whales (Mysticeti), which have baleen instead of teeth. The two groups are thought to have diverged around 34 million years ago (mya). Toothed whales range in size from the and vaquita to the and sperm whale. Several species of odontocetes exhibit sexual dimorphism, in that there are size or other morphological differences between females and males. They have streamlined bodies and two limbs that are modified into flippers. Some can travel at up to 20 knots. Odontocetes have conical teeth designed for catching fish or squid. They have well-developed hearing, that is well adapted for both air and water, so much so that some can sur ...
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Mammals Of Brazil
Brazil has the largest mammal diversity in the world, with more than 600 described species and more likely to be discovered. According to the International Union for Conservation of Nature, 66 of these species are endangered, and 40% of the threatened taxa belong to the primate group. 658 species are listed. The following tags are used to highlight each species' conservation status as assessed by the International Union for Conservation of Nature: Some species were assessed using an earlier set of criteria. Species assessed using this system have the following instead of near threatened and least concern categories: Infraclass: Metatheria Order: Didelphimorphia * Family: Caluromyidae ** Genus: '' Caluromys'' *** Brown-eared woolly opossum, ''C. lanatus'' LC *** Bare-tailed woolly opossum, ''C. philander'' LC * Family: Didelphidae ** Genus: '' Caluromysiops'' *** Black-shouldered opossum, ''Caluromysiops irrupta'' LC ** Genus: '' Glironia'' *** Bushy-tailed opossum, ...
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Mammals Of South America
This is a list of the native wild mammal species recorded in South America. South America's terrestrial mammals fall into three distinct groups: "old-timers", African immigrants and recent North American immigrants. The marsupials and xenarthrans are "old-timers", their ancestors having been present on the continent since at least the very early Cenozoic Era. During the early Cenozoic, South America's only land connection was to Antarctica, so it was effectively cut off from most of the world; as the fragments of Gondwana continued to separate, this connection was lost, leaving South America an island continent. Caviomorph rodents and monkeys arrived as "waif dispersers" by rafting across the Atlantic from Africa in the Eocene epoch, 35 million or more years ago. All the remaining nonflying mammals of South America are recent arrivals, having migrated from North America via Central America during the past seven million years as part of the Great American Interchange; this invasio ...
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Meherrinia
''Meherrinia'' is an extinct genus of inioid river dolphin from the Meherrin River, North Carolina, in the United States. First described in 2012, the dolphin is, in most respects, intermediate in form between the living Amazon river dolphin and the La Plata dolphin The La Plata dolphin, franciscana or toninha (''Pontoporia blainvillei'') is a species of dolphin found in coastal Atlantic waters of southeastern South America. It is a member of the river dolphin 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, whereas the Amazon river dolphin is an exclusively freshwater species. ''Meherrinia'' therefore may be, as of 2012, the only known marine genus of the family Iniidae. Only one species is known. References Fossils of the United States Prehistoric toothed whales Prehistoric cetacean genera ...
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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'' as a distinct species is still debated. It was originally distinguished from the Amazon river dolphin (''Inia geoffrensis'') in January 2014 on the basis of nuclear microsatellite and mitochondrial DNA data as well as differences in skull morphology (it generally has a wider skull). It also differs from the Amazon and Bolivian river dolphins in the number of teeth per hemimandible (24–28 versus 25–29 and 31–35, respectively). However, ''I. araguaiaensis'' is still not recognized as a separate species by the Committee on Taxonomy of the Society for Marine Mammalogy, the largest international association of marine mammal scientists in the world. The Committee made these comments regarding the decision to not include ''I. araguaiaensis' ...
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