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Subject: Dolphin FAQ (2/3)
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Last-modified: 2002/09/24
Maintainer: Jaap van der Toorn <[email protected]>

* This is part 2 of the FAQ for alt.animals dolphins.
* This document is maintained by Jaap van der Toorn
* ([email protected]). The intention is to post the latest
* version of the FAQ on the newsgroup once a month.
*
* Please direct any remarks, suggestions, corrections and
* additions to the above e-mail address.
*
* Last update: September 24, 2002
*

3.0 - DOLPHIN RESOURCES

3.1 - Where can you find out more about books, videos etc.
     about dolphins?

 There is an excellent list of books, videos and CDs on
 dolphins, which is put together by Trisha Lamb-Feuerstein.
 This list is updated on a regular basis. You can find that
 on the Web at the following URL:
 http://www.physics.helsinki.fi/whale/literature/biblio.html
 There is a searchable database  at the site of the Dolphin
 Study Group of the National University of Singapore at:
 http://dsg.sbs.nus.edu.sg/combib.html. They also have a
 picture database at: http://dsg.sbs.nus.edu.sg/pictures/

3.2 - Are there any fictional books starring dolphins?

 Yes, there are quite a few. You can find them at the Web site
 mentioned above.

3.3 - How can I find dolphin related Web sites?

 Most marine mammal Web sites are listed on the Marine Mammal
 Links page:
 http://whale.wheelock.edu/whalenet-stuff/interwhale.html
 Similar information (grouped by category) can be found at
 Wesley Elsberry's site:
 http://www.rtis.com/nat/user/elsberry/marspec.html.
 Another good starting point is the Aquatic Resources
 section at the New England Aquarium site at:
 http://www.neaq.org/.

3.4  - Are there dolphin-related mailing lists?

 Yes, there are a few e-mail discussion lists, some dealing
 with marine mammals in general, others with dolphins only.

 The following are discussion lists. You can participate in
 the discussions, if you play by the rules set for the group
 (you will receive instructions once you join).

 MARMAM - scientific marine mammal discussion list
   To join send an e-mail
   To:     [email protected]
   Subj:
   Body:   subscribe marmam Yourfirstname Yourlastnamename

 You can also follow the discussion on the eScribe mailing
 list archive at: http://www.escribe.com/science/marmam/

 ECS-ALL - scientific cetacean discussion list
   To join send an e-mail
   To:     [email protected]
   Subj:
   Body:   join ecs-all firstname (firstname ...) lastname
           stop

 There are also e-mail newsletters and mailing lists you
 can join. Subscription information can be found on the
 associated web sites. Some examples:
 Dolphin Society - http://www.dolphinsoc.org/
 Ocean Futures   - http://www.oceanfutures.org/
 Ear on the Sea  - http://www.dolphinear.com/

4.0 - DOLPHIN TAXONOMY

4.1 - How many species of dolphins are there?

 The taxonomy of whales and dolphins is still subject to
 change. But in the most common view, the family
 of dolphins (Delphinidae) consists of 32 different
 species. Closely related families (the white whales
 (Monodontidae) and river dolphins (Platanistidae) have
 2 resp. 5 species).

4.2a - What is the dolphin species seen in most oceanaria?
4.2b - What species was the dolphin in the Flipper series?

 The bottlenose dolphin (Tursiops truncatus)

4.3 - What is the largest dolphin?

 The killer whale (Orcinus orca). Male killer whales can
 grow up to 9.6 m (31.5 ft).

4.4 - What is the smallest dolphin species?

 There is not really one smallest species. The smallest
 species include:
 True dolphins (Delphinidae):
    Tucuxi (Sotalia fluviatilis) - 1.3 to 1.8 m
    Hector's dolphin (Cephalorhynchus hectori) - 1.2 to 1.5 m
    Black dolphin (Cephalorhynchus eutropia) - 1.2 to 1.7 m
    Commerson's dolphin (Cephalorhynchus commersonii) -
      1.3 to 1.7 m

 River dolphins (Platanistidae):
    Franciscana (Pontoporia blainvillei) - 1.3 to 1.7 m

 Porpoises (Phocoenidae):
    Vaquita (Phocoena sinus) - 1.2 to 1.5 m
    Finless porpoise (Neophocaena phocaenoides) - 1.2 to 1.9 m


4.5 - What is the difference between dolphins and porpoises?

 Dolphins and porpoises belong to different whale families.
 The most obvious differences are:
 - dolphins have a falcate (hook-shaped) dorsal fin, whereas
   porpoises have a triangular dorsal fin.
 - dolphins have conical teeth; the teeth of of porpoises are
   spatula shaped.
 - most dolphin species have a distinct beak. Porpoises don't,
   giving their head a more rounded, blunt shape.

4.6 - What is a dolphin fish?

 Dolphins are marine mammals, but there is also a fish species
 that's often called "dolphin" or "dolphin fish". Its scientific
 name is Coryphaena hippurus. To avoid confusion with the mammal
 species its Spanish name "dorado" or its Hawaiian name
 "mahi mahi" is often used.

 Because of the confusion between the mammal and the fish species
 dolphins have in the past erroneously been called porpoises,
 especially in some US regions, where the fish species is common.
 In older books you can encounter the name "bottlenose porpoise"
 for the bottlenose dolphin, for instance. Dolphins and porpoises
 are however members of different whale families (see 4.5).

 You can find more information about the dolphin fish, including
 its common name in other languages, in the FishBase database,
 online at http://www.fishbase.org/


4.7 - What are cetaceans?

 Cetaceans is a collective term for whales, dolphins and
 porpoises. The name is derived from the scientific (Latin)
 name of these animals: Cetacea.

4.8  - Are whales and dolphins endangered?

 For most species, the answer is probably "No", although it is
 very difficult to get a good estimate of the size of
 populations on these water living creatures. A number of
 species are endangered: the Indus river dolphin, the baiji
 (there are only about 100 left), the vaquita, the northern
 right whale and the blue whale. Another group of species is
 listed as "vulnerable" (which means that they are not in
 immediate danger of extinction, but also far from safe).
 These are: the Ganges river dolphin, the boto, the bowhead,
 the southern right whale, the sei whale, the fin whale and
 the humpback whale.

 source:
 M. Klinowksa (1991)
   Dolphins, Porpoises and Whales of the World
   The IUCN Red Data Book
   IUCN, Gland, Switzerland and Cambridge, U.K.

4.9 An overview of the species of whales and dolphins
   (the order Cetacea)

order CETACEA (WHALES AND DOLPHINS)

 suborder MYSTICETI (BALEEN WHALES)

   family BALAENIDAE (RIGHT WHALES)
     Eubalaena glacialis               northern right whale
     Eubalaena australis               southern right whale
     Balaena mysticetus                bowhead whale
     Caperea marginata                 pygmy right whale

   family BALAENOPTERIDAE (FIN WHALES or RORQUAL WHALES)
     Balaenoptera musculus             blue whale
     Balaenoptera physalus             fin whale
     Balaenoptera borealis             sei whale
     Balaenoptera edeni                Bryde's whale
     Balaenoptera acutorostrata        minke whale
     Megaptera novaeangliae            humpback whale

   family ESCHRICHTIIDAE (GRAY WHALES)
     Eschrichtius robustus             gray whale

 suborder ODONTOCETI (TOOTHED WHALES)

   family PHYSETERIDAE (SPERM WHALES)
     Physeter macrocephalus            sperm whale
     Kogia breviceps                   pygmy sperm whale
     Kogia simus                       dwarf sperm whale

   family ZIPHIIDAE (BEAKED WHALES)
     Berardius bairdii                 Baird's beaked whale
     Berardius arnuxii                 Arnoux' beaked whale
     Tasmacetus shepherdi              Shepherd's beaked whale
     Ziphius cavirostris               Cuvier's beaked whale
     Hyperoodon ampullatus             northern bottlenose whale
     Hyperoodon planifrons             southern bottlenose whale
     Mesoplodon pacificus              Longman's beaked whale
     Mesoplodon hectori                Hector's beaked whale
     Mesoplodon mirus                  True's beaked whale
     Mesoplodon europaeus              Gervais' beaked whale
     Mesoplodon ginkgodens             ginkgo-toothed
                                         beaked whale
     Mesoplodon grayi                  Gray's beaked whale
     Mesoplodon carlhubbsi             Hubbs' beaked whale
     Mesoplodon stejnegeri             Stejneger's beaked whale
     Mesoplodon bowdoini               Andrew's beaked whale
     Mesoplodon bidens                 Sowerby's beaked whale
     Mesoplodon layardii               strap-toothed whale
     Mesoplodon densirostris           Blainville's beaked whale
     Mesoplodon peruvianus             Pygmy beaked whale
     Mesoplodon traversii 1)           spade-toothed whale
       = Mesoplodon bahamondi              Bahamonde's beaked whale
     Mesoplodon perrini 2)             Perrin's beaked whale

   family DELPHINIDAE (DOLPHINS)
     Steno bredanensis                 rough-toothed dolphin
     Sousa chinensis                   Indo-Pacific hump-backed dolphin
     Sousa teuszii                     Atlantic hump-backed
                                         dolphin
     Sotalia fluviatilis               tucuxi
     Tursiops truncatus                bottlenose dolphin
     Stenella longirostris             spinner dolphin
     Stenella clymene                  clymene dolphin
     Stenella frontalis                Atlantic spotted dolphin
     Stenella attenuata                pantropical spotted
                                         dolphin
     Stenella coeruleoalba             striped dolphin
     Delphinus delphis                 common dolphin
     Lagenodelphis hosei               Fraser's dolphin
     Lagenorhynchus albirostris        white-beaked dolphin
     Lagenorhynchus acutus             Atlantic white-sided
                                         dolphin
     Lagenorhynchus obliquidens        Pacific white-sided
                                         dolphin
     Lagenorhynchus obscurus           dusky dolphin
     Lagenorhynchus australis          Peale's dolphin
     Lagenorhynchus cruciger           hourglass dolphin
     Cephalorhynchus commersonii       Commerson's dolphin
     Cephalorhynchus heavisidii        Heaviside's dolphin
     Cephalorhynchus eutropia          black dolphin
     Cephalorhynchus hectori           Hector's dolphin
     Lissodelphis borealis             northern right whale
                                         dolphin
     Lissodelphis peronii              southern right whale
                                         dolphin
     Grampus griseus                   Risso's dolphin
     Peponocephala electra             melon-headed whale
     Feresa attenuata                  pygmy killer whale
     Pseudorca crassidens              false killer whale
     Globicephala melaena              long-finned pilot whale
     Globicephala macrorhynchus        short-finned pilot whale
     Orcinus orca                      killer whale
     Orcaella brevirostris             Irrawaddy dolphin

   family MONODONTIDAE (WHITE WHALES)
     Delphinapterus leucas             beluga, white whale
     Monodon monoceros                 narwhal

   family PLATANISTIDAE (RIVER DOLPHINS)
     Platanista gangetica              Ganges river dolphin
     Platanista minor                  Indus river dolphin
     Inia geoffrensis                  boto, Amazon river
                                         dolphin
     Lipotes vexillifer                baiji, Yangtze river
                                         dolphin
     Pontoporia blainvillei            franciscana, La Plata
                                         dolphin

   family PHOCOENIDAE (PORPOISES)
     Phocoena phocoena                 harbor porpoise
     Phocoena sinus                    vaquita
     Phocoena dioptrica                spectacled porpoise
     Phocoena spinnipinnis             Burmeister's porpoise
     Neophocaena phocaenoides          finless porpoise
     Phocoenoides dalli                Dall's porpoise

 main source:
 M. Klinowksa (1991)
   Dolphins, Porpoises and Whales of the World
   The IUCN Red Data Book
   IUCN, Gland, Switzerland and Cambridge, U.K.

 Note: the above list is a commonly used list of cetacean species,
 but some authors recognize more separate families and species
 (for instance 2 species of bottlenose dolphins: Tursiops truncatus
 (bottlenose dolphin) and Tursiops aduncus (Indian Ocean bottlenose
 dolphin) and 2 or 3 species of common dolphins: Delphinus delphis
 (shortbeaked common dolphin), Delphinus capensis (longbeaked
 common dolphin) and Delphinus tropicalis (Arabian common dolphin)).
 See for instance:
 Dale W. Rice (1999)
    Marine Mammals of the World - Systematics and Distribution
    Society for Marine Mammalogy Special Publication 4
    Society for Marine Mammalogy, Lawrence, Kansas.

 1) Mesoplodon traversii appears to be a senior synonym for
    M. bahamondi. See:
    A.L. van Helden, A.N. Baker, M.L. Dalebout, J.C. Reyes,
    K. van Waerebeek and C.S. Baker (2002)
    Resurrection of Mesoplodon traversii (Gray, 1874), senior
    synonym for M. bahamondi Reyes, van Waerebeek, C�rdenas
    and Y��ez, 1995 (Cetacea: Ziphiidae)
    Marine Mammal Science 18(3): 609-621

 2) New species, recently discovered based on DNA analysis. See:
    M.L. Dalebout, J.G. Mead, C.S.Baker, A.N. Baker and
    A.L. van Helden (2002)
    A new species of beaked whale, Mesoplodon perrini sp. n.
    (Cetacea: Ziphiidae) discovered through phylogenetic analyses
    of mitochondrial DNA sequences.
    Marine Mammal Science 18(3): 577-608