Boto
Boto is a Portuguese name given to several types of dolphins and river dolphins native to the Amazon and the Orinoco River tributaries. A few botos exist exclusively in fresh water, and these are often considered primitive dolphins.
Classification
The botos are a paraphyletic group, defined largely by their evolutionary convergences.
The genus Sotalia is divided into two species. The costero (S. guianensis) is distributed in the Atlantic, from Florianópolis in Santa Catarina, Brazil and northwards. The tucuxi (S. fluviatilis) lives in the rivers of the Amazon.
Burmeister's porpoise is marine and lives from Santa Catarina to the south.
The Amazon river dolphin (Inia geoffrensis) thrives in fresh water, is endemic of the Amazon basin, and is placed in the Data Deficient category of the IUCN.[1]
The Araguaian river dolphin (I. araguaiaensis) is a newly identified species native to the Araguaia-Tocantins basin of Brazil.[2]
The La Plata dolphin (Pontoporia blainvillei), another vulnerable Brazilian denizen, is a marine river dolphin that ranges from Espírito Santo, Brazil, to the south.[3]
- Suborder Odontoceti
- Superfamily Delphinoidea
- Family Delphinidae
- Genus Sotalia
- Species Sotalia fluviatilis, tucuxi
- Species Sotalia guianensis, costero
- Genus Sotalia
- Family Phocoenidae
- Genus Phocoena
- Species Phocoena spinipinnis, Burmeister's porpoise
- Genus Phocoena
- Family Delphinidae
- Superfamily Platanistoidea
- Family Iniidae
- Genus Inia
- Species Inia araguaiaensis
- Species Inia geoffrensis
- Subspecies Inia geoffrensis geoffrensis, Amazon river dolphin
- Subspecies Inia geoffrensis boliviensis, Bolivian river dolphin
- Subspecies Inia geoffrensis humboldtiana, Humboldt's river dolphin
- Genus Inia
- Family Pontoporiidae
- Genus Pontoporia
- Species Pontoporia blainvillei, la Plata dolphin
- Genus Pontoporia
- Family Iniidae
- Superfamily Delphinoidea
References
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found. Database entry includes a lengthy justification of why this species is data-deficient.
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found. Database entry includes a brief justification of why this species is of vulnerable.
