Etymology and Taxonomic History
The Irrawaddy dolphin was first described by Sir Richard Owen in 1866 based on a specimen found in 1852, in the harbour of Visakhapatnam on the east coast of India. It is one of two species in its genus. It has sometimes been listed variously in a family containing just itself and in Monodontidae and in Delphinapteridae. There is now widespread agreement to list it in the Delphinidae family.
Genetically, the Irrawaddy dolphin is closely related to the killer whale (orca). The species name brevirostris comes from the Latin meaning short-beaked. In 2005, genetic analysis showed the Australian snubfin dolphin found at the coast of northern Australia forms a second species in the Orcaella genus.
Overall, the dolphins' color is grey to dark slate blue, paler underneath, with no distinctive pattern. The dorsal fin is small and rounded behind the middle of the back. The forehead is high and rounded; the beak is lacking. The flippers are broad and rounded. The species found in Borneo, the finless porpoise, Neophocaena phocaenoides, is similar and has no back fin; the humpback dolphin, Sausa chinensis, is larger, has a longer beak and a larger dorsal fin.
Vernacular names for O. brevirostris include the following.
- Burmese: labai
- Chilika dialect: baslnyya magar or bhuasuni magar (lit. oil-yielding dolphin)
- Filipino: lampasut
- Indonesia: pesut
- Khmer: ផ្សោត ph’sout
- Lao: pha’ka
- Oriya: khem or khera
- Thai: pla loma hua bat ("alms-bowl dolphin", due to the shape of their head)
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