SÃO PAULO — Scientists have made the first discovery in 100 years of a new river dolphin species.
The discovery of the “Inia araguaiaensis” in the waters of the Araguaia river in Brazil’s vast Amazon rainforest was announced last week in a study posted online by the Plos One scientific journal.
The study’s lead author, biologist Tomas Hrbek, of the Federal University of Amazonas in the city of Manaus, said the new species is the third ever found in the Amazon region.
“It was an unexpected discovery that shows just how incipient our knowledge is of the region’s biodiversity,” Hrbek said. “River dolphins are among the rarest and most endangered of all vertebrates, so discovering a new species is something that is very rare and exciting.”
Hrbek said scientists concluded the large dolphin was a new species by analyzing and comparing DNA samples of several types of dolphins from the Amazon and Araguaia river basins.
He said about 1,000 Inia araguaiaensis dolphins live in the 1,630-mile river.
