Current ranges of the Indus river dolphin and Ganges river dolphin
South Asian river dolphins are toothed whales in the genus Platanista, which inhabit the waterways of the Indian subcontinent. They were historically considered to be one species (P. gangetica) with the Ganges river dolphin and the Indus river dolphin being subspecies (P. g. gangetica and P. g. minor respectively). Genetic and morphological evidence led to their being described as separate species in 2021. The Ganges and Indus river dolphins are estimated to have diverged 550,000 years ago. They are the only living members of the family Platanistidae and the superfamily Platanistoidea. Fossils of ancient relatives date to the late Oligocene.
South Asian river dolphins are small but stocky cetaceans with long snouts or rostra, broad flippers, and small dorsal fins. They have several unusual features. Living in murky river waters, they have eyes that are tiny and lensless; the dolphins rely instead on echolocation for navigation. The skull has large crests over the melon, which help direct their echolocation signals. These dolphins prey mainly on fish and shrimp and hunt them throughout the water column. They are active through the day and are sighted in small groups. Both species are listed as endangered by the IUCN Red List of mammals. Major threats include dams, barrages, fishing nets, and both chemical and acoustic pollution.
^"Platanista Wagler 1830 (toothed whale)". Paleobiology Database. Archived from the original on 12 December 2021. Retrieved 26 March 2018.
^Wilson, D. E.; Reeder, D. M., eds. (2005). Mammal Species of the World: A Taxonomic and Geographic Reference (3rd ed.). Johns Hopkins University Press. ISBN 978-0-8018-8221-0. OCLC 62265494.
and 28 Related for: South Asian river dolphin information
SouthAsianriverdolphins are toothed whales in the genus Platanista, which inhabit the waterways of the Indian subcontinent. They were historically considered...
related rivers of SouthAsia, namely in the countries of India, Nepal, and Bangladesh. It is related to the much smaller Indus riverdolphin which lives...
The Indus riverdolphin (Platanista minor) is a species of freshwater dolphin in the family Platanistidae. It is endemic to the Indus River basin in Pakistan...
and in estuaries and rivers in parts of the Bay of Bengal and Southeast Asia. It closely resembles the Australian snubfin dolphin (of the same genus, Orcaella)...
three taxa are more closely related to Delphinoidea than to the SouthAsianriverdolphin. The extinct odontocete families Allodelphinidae and Squalodelphinidae...
Platanistidae were originally thought to hold only one species (the SouthAsianriverdolphin), but, based on differences in skull structure, vertebrae and...
endangered species such as the gharial and SouthAsianriverdolphin. The Ganges is the most sacred river to Hindus. It is worshipped as the goddess Ganga...
The Araguaian riverdolphin or Araguaian boto (Inia araguaiaensis) is a South American riverdolphin population native to the Araguaia–Tocantins basin...
Brahmaputra River is at Nagarbera of Kamrup district, Assam.[citation needed] The Kulsi river is the habitat of endangered SouthAsianriverdolphin (Platanista...
closest modern relative is the SouthAsianriverdolphin (with its two subspecies the Ganges riverdolphin and Indus riverdolphin). Species of Squalodon are...
from Abrahamic mythology Makara from Hindu mythology (possibly a SouthAsianriverdolphin) Rongomai from Māori mythology Tannin from Canaanite, Phoenician...
Indus River. It is a subspecies of the SouthAsianriverdolphin. The Indus riverdolphin formerly also occurred in the tributaries of the Indus river. According...
Indian rhinoceros, the gaur, the wild Asian elephant, the hispid hare, the sloth bear, the SouthAsianriverdolphin and the chital, as well as over 500...
extant Ganges and Indus riverdolphins (Platanista) of SouthAsia and shares no close relation to the modern Amazon riverdolphin (Inia geoffrensis) that...
Salas-Gismondi, Rodolfo (2024). "The largest freshwater odontocete: A SouthAsianriverdolphin relative from the proto-Amazonia". Science Advances. 10 (12)....
extant oceanic dolphins but, according to French palaeontologist Christian de Muizon, more closely related to the SouthAsianriverdolphin (Platanista gangetica)...
extinct species of freshwater dolphin native to the Yangtze river system in China. It is thought to be the first dolphin species driven to extinction due...
River Monsters is a British and American wildlife documentary television programming produced for Animal Planet by Icon Films of Bristol, United Kingdom...
4 or 7.5 ft), comparable to its closest living relative, the SouthAsianriverdolphin, which measures 2.4 meters (7.9 ft). However, the animal probably...
instead, based on his reading of Jain text of Sūryaprajñapti. The SouthAsianriverdolphin may also have contributed to the image of the makara. In Tibetan...
whales) Dolphins, with five families: Delphinidae (oceanic dolphins), Platanistidae (SouthAsianriverdolphins), Lipotidae (old world riverdolphins) Iniidae...
toothfish fishery at South Georgia, South Atlantic". Ccamlr Science, 11(111–126). Poon, Linda (23 January 2013). "Deformed Dolphin Accepted into New Family"...
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