Irrawaddy dolphin (Orcaella brevirostris) Description Orcaella brevirostris
Date 1878
Source Anatomical and zoological researches: comprising an account of the zoological results of the two expeditions to western Yunnan in 1868 and 1875; and a monograph of the two cetacean genera, Platanista and Orcella http://www.archive.org/details/Anatomicalzoolo00AndeA
Author C. Berjeau
Source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Orcaella_brevirostris_1878.jpg
The Irrawaddy dolphin (Orcaella brevirostris) is a euryhaline species of oceanic dolphin found in discontinuous subpopulations near sea coasts and in estuaries and rivers in parts of the Bay of Bengal and Southeast Asia. Genetically, the Irrawaddy dolphin is closely related to the killer whale (orca). It is also closely related to the Australian snubfin dolphin, and these two were only recently recognised as distinct species. The species name brevirostris comes from the Latin meaning short-beaked. In 2005, genetic analysis showed the Australian snubfin dolphin found at the coast of northern Australia forms a second species in the Orcaella genus. Order: Artiodactyla, Infraorder: Cetacea, Family: Delphinidae, Genus: Orcaella, Species: Orcaella brevirostris (Owen in Gray, 1866)
Synonyms:
Orca (Orcaella) brevirostris Owen in Gray, 1866 (basionym)
Orcaella brevirostris brevirostris Ellerman & Morrison-Scott, 1951
Orcaella brevirostris fluminalis Ellerman & Morrison-Scott, 1951
Orcaella fluminalis Gray, 1871
Orcella brevirostris Anderson, 1871
Orcella fluminalis Anderson, 1871
Phocaena (Orca) brevirostris Owen, 1866