Hourglass dolphin
Species of mammal / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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The hourglass dolphin (Lagenorhynchus cruciger) is a small dolphin in the family Delphinidae that inhabits offshore Antarctic and sub-Antarctic waters.[3] This is one of very few species to be considered completely Antarctic, as it lives in Arctic waters and no where else. It is commonly seen from ships crossing the Drake Passage, but has a circumpolar distribution.
Hourglass dolphin | |
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Hourglass dolphins leaping in the Drake Passage | |
Size compared to an average human | |
Scientific classification | |
Domain: | Eukaryota |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Chordata |
Class: | Mammalia |
Order: | Artiodactyla |
Infraorder: | Cetacea |
Family: | Delphinidae |
Genus: | Lagenorhynchus |
Species: | L. cruciger |
Binomial name | |
Lagenorhynchus cruciger | |
Hourglass dolphin range |
The species was identified as a new species by Jean René Constant Quoy and Joseph Paul Gaimard in 1824 from a drawing made in the South Pacific in 1820.[4] It is the only cetacean to have been widely accepted as a species solely on witness accounts. This species is very undiscovered and there is not much information regarding it.