挽救白鱀豚

我是1997年认识“淇淇”的。“淇淇”是只白鱀豚,现住在中国科学院水生生物所——武汉“白公馆”里。全世界有4种淡水豚,除了生活在我国长江里的白鱀豚以外,还有生活在亚马逊河的亚马逊豚,生活在恒河和红河里的恒河豚和红河豚。在这4种淡水豚里,白鱀啄是最濒危的一种。它和大熊猫一样,是属于     

近年来我国关于白鱀豚Lipotes vexillifer的研究

白鱀豚是我国特有的珍贵水生哺乳动物,也是世界现存的4种淡水豚(拉河豚Pontoporia blainvillei,亚河豚Inia geoffrensis,恒河豚Platanista gangetica和白鱀豚)中存活头数最少的一种。近几年来,白鱀豚已为很多人所熟知,并像大熊猫一样,被视为我国的“国宝”。 对白鱀豚进行系统的研究工作,开始在中华人民共和国成立之后。特别是七十年代以来,我国的科学工作者对其进行了大量的调查研究。     

白暨豚的舌

在现代生存的四类淡水豚中,恒河豚(Platanista gangetica)和拉河豚(Pontoporia blain-villei)的舌已有详文报道(Arvy和Pilleri,1970;Yamasaki等,1976a)。亚河豚(Iniageoffrend)的舌也在Yamasaki的文章中作为和上述二种淡水豚舌的比较而述及。白暨豚(Liptes vexillifer)的舌除陈宜瑜等(1975)曾提及外,迄今未有其他报道。鉴此,作者对白暨豚的舌作了解剖学和组织学的观察,现将研究结果报告如下: 白暨豚舌的标本取自幼体、亚成体、成体和老年个体等七头个体。为了比较,还收集了亚河豚、其它海豚类和陆生哺乳类的舌。用10％甲醛固定保存,各项量度根据固定标本测量。白暨豚舌的外形描述以NNC 7909号标本为主,以其它个体的观察为辅。其组     

白鱀豚脑的解剖

作者对采自长江的三头白暨豚(Lipotes vexillifer Miller)的脑进行了解剖研究。白鱀豚的脑表现出典型的鲸脑特征。与海洋齿鲸类比较,淡水鲸科的种类普遍呈现出视觉系统的退化,这是一种生态适应的结果。从神经解剖学的观点看来,白鱀豚与亚马逊河海豚(Inia)、拉普拉塔河海豚(Pontoporia)的脑的结构是近似的,而与恒河海豚(Platanista)显着不同,     

白鱀豚脑的解剖

作者对采自长江的三头白鱀豚(Lipotes vexillifer Miller)的脑进行了解剖研究。白鱀豚的脑表现出典型的鲸脑特征。与海洋齿鲸类比较,淡水鲸科的种类普遍呈现出视觉系统的退化,这是一种生态适应的结果。从神经解剖学的观点看来,白鱀豚与亚马逊河海豚(Inia)、拉普拉塔河海豚(Pontoporia)的脑的结构是近似的,而与恒河海豚(Platanista)显著不同,这与骨骼形态上表现出的系统发育关系是一致的。       

白鱀豚某些血液生化指标的测定

关于海豚和几种淡水豚类的血液学和血液生化指标国外有过研究4-13。白鱀豚(Lipotes vexillifer)血液有形成份已有过报道2,3。本实验对白鱀豚血液生化指标进行了研究,以期建立白鱀豚血液正常生理生化指标,为白鱀豚的临床诊断,健康监测和保健措施提供血液学参数,并且为完善淡水豚类血液学比较研究提供基础资料。       

淡水豚类分子系统发生的研究

测定了白暨豚和恒河豚细胞色素ｂ基因３０７ｂｐ的ＤＮＡ序列,并与其它鲸类的相应序列合并,分析了淡水豚类（恒河豚、印河豚、白暨豚、亚河豚和弗西豚）的系统学位置和系统发生。淡水豚类不同属间的序列差异已达到或超过了其它齿鲸类科间的差异水平,因此它们分别归属于不同的科,即恒河豚科、白暨豚科、亚河豚科和弗西豚科。系统发生分析支持淡水豚类和海豚类之间具有下述的关系：（恒河豚科（（白暨豚科（亚河豚科,弗西豚科））海豚总科））。即淡水豚的４个科中,恒河豚科是最早分化的一支,其次是白暨豚科,然后是亚河豚科和弗西豚科的分化。白暨豚科和亚河豚科＋弗西豚科组成海豚总科的姊妹群,并与海豚总科一同组成海豚下目。恒河豚与其它淡水豚类间无直接的亲缘关系。淡水豚类是并系的。把恒河豚类独立为恒河豚总科是合理的。初步认为有理由把白暨豚类也作为一个总科级的支系。恒河豚和印河豚间的序列差异极小,两者可能只是同一个种的２个亚种。     

长江下游南京至贵池江段白鱀豚的观察

白鱀豚(Lipotes vexillifer)在长江下游自湖口至长江口都有分布。长江下游白鱀豚的生态观察始自1979年,但并未中断。其后南京至贵池间约250公里的长江段的观察,更有日本琉球大学名誉教授西胁昌治博士和鸟羽水族馆副馆长片罔照男于1981年3月15-21日参加了工作。现作简短报道。 1979年8月20日在太阳洲主航道中见到白鱀豚1头,次日该江段北岸群众两次发现白鱀豚在岸边游过。这一时期的白鱀豚不易跟踪观察,它们出水呼吸几次后,即消灭在远处。观察中也见到江豚(Neophocaena)10余头。1980年2月22日在太阳洲江段见到江豚两头,未发现白鱀豚。当天13:30在土桥附近见2头白鱀豚成体和1头幼体。它们在此活动了40分钟以上。2月24日返经太阳洲时见1头,白暨豚,另有4头江豚0 1981年春,联合考察船于3月15日自南京启航0 16日傍晚在芜湖附近的白茹沙江段见到江豚一群约10-12头,18日在接近土桥时又见到数头。19日上午在太阳洲见江豚一群约10余头。中午到达大通江面,先遇见数头江豚,接着见到一群带有幼体的白暨豚共约8-10头在近北岸处觅食。约40分钟后,此群离去,在附近又见到江豚6头左右。3月19日下午在梅龙和贵池及3月20日上午在梅龙也都见到江豚。据渔民报告,3月19日下午在白茹沙见到白暨豚在江中活动。1981年7月6日的观察中,在新港附近发现白暨豚2头,江豚3头。其中1头江豚背着幼豚。接着又在黑沙洲洲头附近遇见白暨豚3头。次日上午在近土桥外观察到白暨豚4头,江豚2头。     

白暨豚正常心电图的初步探讨

1980年以来,我们测定了白鱀豚(Lipotes vexillifer)“淇淇”和“珍珍”的心电图,并与人和其他海豚的心电图作了比较,从而确定了白鱀豚心电图常规导联的联接方法,并比较完整地描述了白鱀豚正常心电图的特征。研究发现,白鱀豚的心电图各波、段和间期的正常范围基本与人的相近,但T波的特征与人不同,人的T波与同导联的主波方向一致,而白鱀豚的T波却正好相反。P—R间期明显比人的延长。本研究将为白鱀豚心血管疾病的诊断提供重要依据。     

白鱀豚和江豚眼的测量

白鱀豚是我国特有的一种淡水豚,日前存在的数量已很少,因此是世界上一种珍贵而稀有的动物。同时,白鱀豚和江豚都是具有回声定位功能的动物,一般说,具有回声定位功能的动物其视觉都有不同程度的退化。为了了解白鱀豚的视觉功能,我们曾对其视神经和视网膜进行了研究。而眼的一些光学参数对视觉灵敏度的影响也是很大的。因此,本实验对白鱀豚     

MOLECULAR SYSTEMATICS OF RIVER DOLPHINS INFERRED FROM COMPLETE MITOCHONDRIAL CYTOCHROME-B GENE SEQUENCES

1,140 bp of the complete mitochondrial cytochrome- b gene sequences of baiji ( Lipotes vexillifer ), franciscana ( Pontoporia blainvillei ), and Ganges river dolphin ( Platanista gangetica gangetica ) were determined to address the systematic position and phylogeny of extant river dolphins with combination of homologous sequences of other cetaceans. The neighbor-joining (NJ), maximum parsimony (MP), and maximum likelihood (ML) phylogenetic analyses all identified the river dolphins into three lineages, i. e., Platanista, Lipotes , and Inia + Pontoporia . The Lipotes did not have sister relationship with either Platanista or Inia + Pontoporia , which strongly supported the referral of Lipotes to a separate family, i. e. , Lipotidae. There were very high sequence divergences between all river dolphin genera, suggesting a relatively longer period of separation time than those among other odontocete families.     

Molecular phylogenetics of 'river dolphins' and the baiji mitochondrial genome

It is well known that the classical river dolphins are not a natural group, but up to now the phylogenetic relationships among them are not very clear because different views have been referred from different studies. In the present study, we determined the complete nucleotide sequence of the mitochondrial (mt) genome of the baiji (Lipotes vexillifer), the most endangered cetacean species, and conducted phylogenetic analyses for the classical river dolphins based on data from cetacean mitochondrial genomes available. In our analyses, the classical river dolphins split into two separate lineages, Platanista and Lipotes+(Inia+Pontoporia), having no sister relationship with each other, and the Platanista lineage is always within the odontocete clade instead of having a closer affinity to Mysticeti. The position of the Platanista is more basal, suggesting separate divergence of this lineage well before the other one. The Lipotes has a sister relationship with Inia+pontoporia, and they together formed the sister group to the Delphinoidea. This result strongly supports paraphyly of the classical river dolphins, and the nonplatanistoid river dolphins do represent a monophyletic grouping, with the Lipotidae as the sister taxa to (Iniidae+Pontoporiidae), and is well congruent with the studies based on short interspersed repetitive elements (SINEs).     

淡水豚类线粒体DNA 12S rRNA基因的序列变异及其分子系统学研究

淡水豚类４个代表属「白暨豚（Ｌｉｐｏｔｅｓ）、恒河豚（Ｐｌａｔａｎｉｓｔａ）、弗西豚（Ｐｏｎｔｏｐｏｒｉａ）和亚河豚（Ｉｎｉａ）」ｍｔＤＮＡ １２Ｓ ｒＲＮＡ基因的序列差异水平,高于其他齿鲸类科间的差异,特别是远远高于海豚总科内的科间差异。研究结果支持它们应归属于不同的科,即白暨豚科（Ｌｉｐｏｔｉｉｄａｅ）、恒河豚科（Ｐｌａｔａｎｉｓｔｉｄａｅ）、弗西豚科（Ｐｏｎｔｏｐｏｒｉｄａｅ）和亚河豚科（Ｉ     

Evolution of river dolphins

The world's river dolphins (Inia, Pontoporia, Lipotes and Platanista) are among the least known and most endangered of all cetaceans. The four extant genera inhabit geographically disjunct river systems and exhibit highly modified morphologies, leading many cetologists to regard river dolphins as an unnatural group. Numerous arrangements have been proposed for their phylogenetic relationships to one another and to other odontocete cetaceans. These alternative views strongly affect the biogeographical and evolutionary implications raised by the important, although limited, fossil record of river dolphins. We present a hypothesis of river dolphin relationships based on phylogenetic analysis of three mitochondrial genes for 29 cetacean species, concluding that the four genera represent three separate, ancient branches in odontocete evolution. Our molecular phylogeny corresponds well with the first fossil appearances of the primary lineages of modern odontocetes. Integrating relevant events in Tertiary palaeoceanography, we develop a scenario for river dolphin evolution during the globally high sea levels of the Middle Miocene. We suggest that ancestors of the four extant river dolphin lineages colonized the shallow epicontintental seas that inundated the Amazon, Paraná, Yangtze and Indo-Gangetic river basins, subsequently remaining in these extensive waterways during their transition to freshwater with the Late Neogene trend of sea-level lowering.     

Clicking in Shallow Rivers: Short-Range Echolocation of Irrawaddy and Ganges River Dolphins in a Shallow,Acoustically Complex Habitat

Toothed whales (Cetacea, odontoceti) use biosonar to navigate their environment and to find and catch prey. All studied toothed whale species have evolved highly directional, high-amplitude ultrasonic clicks suited for long-range echolocation of prey in open water. Little is known about the biosonar signals of toothed whale species inhabiting freshwater habitats such as endangered river dolphins. To address the evolutionary pressures shaping the echolocation signal parameters of non-marine toothed whales, we investigated the biosonar source parameters of Ganges river dolphins (Platanista gangetica gangetica) and Irrawaddy dolphins (Orcaella brevirostris) within the river systems of the Sundarban mangrove forest. Both Ganges and Irrawaddy dolphins produced echolocation clicks with a high repetition rate and low source level compared to marine species. Irrawaddy dolphins, inhabiting coastal and riverine habitats, produced a mean source level of 195 dB (max 203 dB) re 1 µPa_pp whereas Ganges river dolphins, living exclusively upriver, produced a mean source level of 184 dB (max 191) re 1 µPa_pp. These source levels are 1–2 orders of magnitude lower than those of similar sized marine delphinids and may reflect an adaptation to a shallow, acoustically complex freshwater habitat with high reverberation and acoustic clutter. The centroid frequency of Ganges river dolphin clicks are an octave lower than predicted from scaling, but with an estimated beamwidth comparable to that of porpoises. The unique bony maxillary crests found in the Platanista forehead may help achieve a higher directionality than expected using clicks nearly an octave lower than similar sized odontocetes.     

First report of major histocompatibility complex class II loci from the Amazon pink river dolphin (genus Inia)

We report the first major histocompatibility complex (MHC) DQB1 sequences for the two species of pink river dolphins (Inia geoffrensis and Inia boliviensis) inhabiting the Amazon and Orinoco River basins. These sequences were found to be polymorphic within the Inia genus and showed shared homology with cetacean DQB-1 sequences, especially, those of the Monodontidae and Phocoenidae. On the other hand, these sequences were shown to be divergent from those described for other riverine dolphin species, such as Lipotes vexillifer, the Chinese river dolphin. Two main conclusions can be drawn from our results: 1) the Mhc DQB1 sequences seem to evolve more rapidly than other nuclear sequences in cetaceans, and 2) differential positive selective pressures acting on these genes cause concomitant divergent evolutionary histories that derive phylogenetic reconstructions that could be inconsistent with widely accepted intertaxa evolutionary relationships elucidated with other molecular markers subjected to a neutral dynamics.     

ABUNDANCE OF IRRAWADDY DOLPHINS (ORCAELLA BREVIROSTRIS) AND GANGES RIVER DOLPHINS (PLATANISTA GANGETICA GANGETICA) ESTIMATED USING CONCURRENT COUNTS MADE BY INDEPENDENT TEAMS IN WATERWAYS OF THE SUNDARBANS MANGROVE FOREST IN BANGLADESH

Independent observer teams made concurrent counts of Irrawaddy dolphins Orcaella brevirostris and Ganges River dolphins Platanista gangetica gangetica in mangrove channels of the Sundarbans Delta in Bangladesh. These counts were corrected for missed groups using mark-recapture models. For Irrawaddy dolphins, a stratified Lincoln-Petersen model, which incorporated group size and sighting conditions as covariates, and a Huggins conditional likelihood model, which averaged models that individually incorporated group size, sighting conditions, and channel width as covariates, generated abundance estimates of 397 individuals (CV = 10.2%) and 451 individuals (CV = 9.6%), respectively. For Ganges River dolphins, a stratified Lincoln-Petersen model, which incorporated group size as a covariate, and a Huggins conditional likelihood model, which averaged the same models described above, generated abundance estimates of 196 individuals (CV = 12.7%) and 225 individuals (CV = 12.6%), respectively. Although the estimates for both models were relatively close, the analytical advantages of the Huggins models probably outweigh those of the Lincoln-Petersen models. However, the latter should be considered appropriate when simplicity is a priority. This study found that waterways of the Sundarbans support significant numbers of Irrawaddy and Ganges River dolphins, especially compared to other areas where the species have been surveyed.