Taxonomy
The Pacific white-sided dolphin was named by Smithsonian mammalogist Theodore Nicholas Gill in 1865. The Pacific white-sided dolphin is morphologically similar to the dusky dolphin, which is found in the southern Pacific. Genetic analysis by Frank Cipriano suggests the two species diverged about two million years ago.
Though both are traditionally placed in the genus Lagenorhynchus, molecular analyses indicate that they are closer to dolphins of the genus Cephalorhynchus. The new genus Sagmatias has been proposed for these species.
Read more about this topic: Pacific White-sided Dolphin