Saturday, December 24, 2005

Snub Nose Dolphin

NEW SPECIES OF DOLPHIN IDENTIFIED

A new dolphin species was identified by scientists off the coast of north Australia. The animals, which have been named snubfin dolphins were initially thought to be members of the Irrawaddy dolphin species, but DNA tests have confirmed them to be a distinct species. The snubfins are coloured differently and have different skull, fin and flipper measurement to the Irrawaddy dolphin. It is not known how many snubfin dolphins are in existence, but numbers are thought to be low, with a group of about 200 living off Townsville, north-east Australia.

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