Boto

For the village, see Boto, Burkina Faso.

Boto is a Portuguese name given to several types of dolphins and river dolphins native to the Amazon and the Orinoco River tributaries. A few botos exist exclusively in fresh water, and these are often considered primitive dolphins.

An Amazon river dolphin

Classification

The botos are a paraphyletic group, defined largely by their evolutionary convergences.

The genus Sotalia is divided into two species. The costero (S. guianensis) is distributed in the Atlantic, from Florianópolis in Santa Catarina, Brazil, and northwards. The tucuxi (S. fluviatilis) lives in the rivers of the Amazon.

Burmeister's porpoise is marine and lives from Santa Catarina to the south.

The Amazon river dolphin (Inia geoffrensis) thrives in fresh water, is endemic to the Amazon basin, and is placed in the Endangered category of the IUCN.^[1]

The Araguaian river dolphin (I. araguaiaensis) is a newly identified species native to the Araguaia-Tocantins basin of Brazil.^[2]

The La Plata dolphin (Pontoporia blainvillei), another vulnerable Brazilian denizen, is a marine river dolphin that ranges from Espírito Santo, Brazil, to the south.^[3]

• Suborder Odontoceti
  • Superfamily Delphinoidea
    • Family Delphinidae
      • Genus Sotalia
        • Species Sotalia fluviatilis, tucuxi
        • Species Sotalia guianensis, costero
    • Family Phocoenidae
      • Genus Phocoena
        • Species Phocoena spinipinnis, Burmeister's porpoise
  • Superfamily Platanistoidea
    • Family Iniidae
      • Genus Inia
        • Species Inia araguaiaensis
        • Species Inia geoffrensis
          • Subspecies Inia geoffrensis geoffrensis, Amazon river dolphin
          • Subspecies Inia geoffrensis boliviensis, Bolivian river dolphin
          • Subspecies Inia geoffrensis humboldtiana, Humboldt's river dolphin
    • Family Pontoporiidae
      • Genus Pontoporia
        • Species Pontoporia blainvillei, la Plata dolphin or Franciscana

Folklore

The "boto" of the Amazon River regions of northern Brazil are described according to local lore as taking the form of a human or merman, also known as Boto cor-de-rosa ("Pink Boto" in Portuguese) and with the habit of seducing human women and impregnating them.^[4]

References

1. Reeves, R.R.; Jefferson, T.A.; Karczmarski, L.; Laidre, K.; O’Corry-Crowe, G.; Rojas-Bracho, L.; Secchi, E.R.; Slooten, E.; Smith, B.D.; Wang, J.Y. & Zhou, K. (2011). "Inia geoffrensis". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2011: e.T10831A3220342. doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2011-1.RLTS.T10831A3220342.en. Database entry includes a lengthy justification of why this species is data-deficient.
2. Hrbek, Tomas; Da Silva, Vera Maria Ferreira; Dutra, Nicole; Gravena, Waleska; Martin, Anthony R.; Farias, Izeni Pires (2014-01-22). Turvey, Samuel T. (ed.). "A New Species of River Dolphin from Brazil or: How Little Do We Know Our Biodiversity". PLOS ONE. 9 (1): e83623. Bibcode:2014PLoSO...983623H. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0083623. PMC 3898917. PMID 24465386.
3. Zerbini, A.N.; Secchi, E.; Crespo, E.; Danilewicz, D. & Reeves, R. (2018) [errata version of 2017 assessment]. "Pontoporia blainvillei". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2017: e.T17978A123792204. doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2017-3.RLTS.T17978A50371075.en. Retrieved 15 December 2023.
4. Juliette Wood Fantastic Creatures in Mythology and Folklore: From Medieval Times to the Present Day (2018), p. 62, at Google Books