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| South Asian river dolphin | |
|---|---|
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| Ganges river dolphin leaping out of the water | |
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| Size compared to an average human | |
| Conservation status | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Order: | Artiodactyla |
| Family: | Platanistidae |
| Genus: | Platanista Wagler, 1830 |
| Species: | P. gangetica |
| Binomial name | |
| Platanista gangetica (Lebeck, 1801); (Roxburgh, 1801) | |
| Subspecies | |
Platanista gangetica gangetica | |
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| Ranges of the Ganges river dolphin and of the Indus river dolphin | |
The South Asian river dolphin (Platanista gangetica) is a freshwater or river dolphin found in India, Bangladesh, Nepal and Pakistan.
It is split into two subspecies, the Ganges river dolphin (P. g. gangetica) and Indus river dolphin (P. g. minor).
From the 1970s until 1998, they were regarded as separate species; however, in 1998, their classification was changed from two separate species to subspecies of a single species. The idea was to wait until genetic analysis had decided how best to classify them. view more...
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