South Asian River Dolphin - Taxonomy

Taxonomy

The species was described by two separate authors, Lebeck and Roxburgh, in 1801, and it is unclear to whom the original description should be ascribed. Until the 1970s, the South Asian river dolphin was regarded as a single species. The two subspecies are geographically separate and have not interbred for many hundreds if not thousands of years. Based on differences in skull structure, vertebrae and lipid composition scientists declared the two populations as separate species in the early 1970s. In 1998, the results of these studies were questioned and the classification reverted to the pre-1970 consensus of a single species containing two subspecies until the taxonomy could be resolved using modern techniques such as molecular sequencing. Thus, at present, two subspecies are recognized in the genus Platanista, the P. g. gangetica (Ganges river dolphin) and the P. g. minor (Indus river dolphin).

Synonyms

• blind river dolphin, side-swimming dolphin
• Ganges subspecies: Gangetic dolphin, Ganges susu, shushuk
• Indus subspecies: bhulan, Indus dolphin, Indus blind dolphin