A suspected new river dolphin species has emerged in Brazil, and scientists warn that it is highly endangered.
River dolphins (also known as botos) are among the rarest, and most endangered, dolphins in the world. Three of the four known species are listed as "threatened" by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN). The discovery of a wholly new species—the first such find in a century—is thus exciting news for biologists and conservation officials.
Scientists led by Tomas Hrbek of the Universidade Federal do Amazonas in Manaus, Brazil, announced the existence of the proposed new species of river dolphin in PLOS ONE on January 22. Discovered in the Araguaia River Basin in central Brazil, the animals were isolated from other botos (Inia geoffrensis and Inia boliviensis) in the adjacent Amazon Basin to the west by a series of rapids and a small canal. As a result, the scientists suggest calling the new species the Araguaian boto, or Inia araguaiaensis.
The study scientists "make a strong case based on the data," says Howard Rosenbaum, director of the Wildlife Conservation Society's Ocean Giants program in New York. The discovery, he says, is "amazing because we're starting to get insights into how these animals become distinct species."
DNA Testing
In the study, the Brazilian team concluded that the DNA of the Araguaian river dolphins is sufficiently different from that of other botos to warrant designation as a new species. The degree of difference suggests that the Araguaian boto most likely separated from other dolphin species more than two million years ago. Physical and genetic differences from other dolphins, they write, represent "strong evidence that individuals from the Araguaia River represent a distinct biological group."
The newly proposed species marks the first new discovery of a true river dolphin since 1918, when researchers identified Lipotes vexillifer, the Yangtze river dolphin or baiji, in China. The baiji was declared "functionally extinct" in 2006 after scientists failed to find even one individual.
Rosenbaum told National Geographic that the team in Brazil "did an admirable job in collecting a good amount of data on a species that is difficult to study in the wild."
Rosenbaum, who specializes in genetic differentiation of dolphin and whale species, said the researchers had published "very robust data" showing genetic and physical differences between the Araguaian boto and other dolphins.
Unique Characteristics?
Rosenbaum said the scientists demonstrated some unique "diagnostic characters" in maternally inherited, or mitochondrial, DNA and other genes analyzed in their sample of river dolphins. Both lines of evidence, he says, "show that the Araguaian boto were separated from other boto for a long period of time."
He added that the scientists described "some compelling size differences in cranial features, and potentially in their number of teeth."
But Rosenbaum also saw reason for caution, because the scientists had only a few specimens in the study. Loath to kill living animals for study, the team relied on an animal that was found dead and a few samples that were already held in museums.
The researchers added that the Araguaian boto should be classified as "vulnerable" by IUCN. They added, "This discovery highlights the immensity of the deficit in our knowledge of Neotropical biodiversity, as well as vulnerability of biodiversity to anthropogenic actions in an increasingly threatened landscape."
The unknown beast washed onto shore in the Bay of Plenty after storms pounded the coast of New Zealand. It's remains are being tested to determine exactly what it is.
