Cranial variation in bottlenose dolphins<Emphasis Type="Italic">Tursiops spp.</Emphasis> from the Indian andwestern Pacific Oceans: additional evidence for two species |
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Authors: | Nozomi Kurihara Sen-ichi Oda |
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Institution: | 1.Graduate School of Bio-Agricultural Science,Nagoya University,Aichi,Japan |
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Abstract: | We examined the skulls of 72 bottlenose dolphins from the Indian and western Pacific Oceans to clarify the systematics in
genusTursiops. We also examined type skulls ofTursiops aduncus (Ehrenberg, 1832),T. eurynome (Gray, 1846),T. catalania (Gray, 1862),Delphinus (Steno) gadamu Owen 1866,T. dawsoni Lydekker 1908, andT. truncatus (Montagu, 1821). The specimens were divided into two groups, A and B, based on rostrum length and characters of the basal
part of the rostrum. The rostrum of group A was longer and tapered abruptly near the base, whereas that of group B was shorter
and tapered more gradually throughout its length. Group A contained specimens from western, central, and eastern Asia, Africa,
and Australasia. Group B contained specimens from central and eastern Asia and Australasia. The six type skulls were also
clearly divided into two groups; the type skulls ofT. aduncus, T. catalania, andDelphinus (Steno) gadamu were included in group A, whereas the type skulls ofT. truncatus, T. eurynome, andT. dawsoni were included in group B. This grouping was consistent with the genetic status. Therefore, we identified group A specimens
asT. aduncus and group B specimensT. truncatus, the oldest scientific names related to the two groups. |
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