Commerson's dolphin
Species of mammal / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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Commerson's dolphin (Cephalorhynchus commersonii), also referred to by the common names jacobita, skunk dolphin, piebald dolphin, panda dolphin, or tonina overa (in South America), is a small oceanic dolphin of the genus Cephalorhynchus. Commerson's dolphin has two geographically-isolated but locally-common subspecies. The principal subspecies, C.c.commersonii, has sharply-delineated black-and-white patterning and is found around the tip of South America. The secondary subspecies, C.c.kerguelenensis, is larger than C.c.commersonii, has a less-sharply delineated dark and light grey patterning with a white ventral band, and is found around the Kerguelen Islands in the Indian Ocean.
Commerson's dolphin[1] | |
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A Commerson's dolphin in Chubut Province. | |
Size compared to an average human | |
Scientific classification | |
Domain: | Eukaryota |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Chordata |
Class: | Mammalia |
Order: | Artiodactyla |
Infraorder: | Cetacea |
Family: | Delphinidae |
Genus: | Cephalorhynchus |
Species: | C. commersonii |
Binomial name | |
Cephalorhynchus commersonii Lacépède, 1804 | |
Subspecies | |
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C. c. commersonii distribution near South America | |
C. c. kerguelensis distribution near the Kerguelen Islands |
The dolphin is named after French naturalist Dr Philibert Commerson, who first described them in 1767 after sighting them in the Strait of Magellan.[4]