Lagenorhynchus

Lagenorhynchus
Temporal range: Pliocene to Recent[1]
Lagenorhynchus albirostris
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Mammalia
Order: Artiodactyla
Suborder: Whippomorpha
Infraorder: Cetacea
Parvorder: Odontoceti
Family: Delphinidae
Genus:
Gray, 1846
Type species
Delphinus albirostris [2]
Gray, 1846
Species

Lagenorhynchus albirostris

Lagenorhynchus is a genus of oceanic dolphins in the infraorder Cetacea, that formerly contained six extant species.[3] However, there was consistent molecular evidence that the genus is polyphyletic[4] and several of the species moved to other genera, leaving only the white-beaked dolphin in this genus among extant species.[5] In addition, the extinct species Lagenorhynchus harmatuki is also classified in this genus.[6]

Etymology

The name Lagenorhynchus derives from the Greek lagenos meaning "bottle" and rhynchus meaning "beak". Indeed, the "bottle-nose" is a characteristic of this genus. However, the dolphins popularly called bottlenose dolphins belong in the genus Tursiops.

Taxonomy

For a long time there was compelling phylogenetic molecular evidence that the genus Lagenorhynchus is polyphyletic, in that it contained several species that are not closely related.[7] LeDuc, Perrin & Dizon 1999 found that white-beaked and Atlantic white-sided dolphins are phylogenetically isolated within the Delphinidae, where they are believed to be rather basal members of the family, along with the orca (subfamily Orcininae).[8] This was confirmed in 2025 by Galatius, et al.[9]

As a result, in 2025 most of the species previously placed in Lagenorhynchus were moved to other genera, leaving it as a monotypic genus containing only the white-beaked dolphin.[5] Other species previously included in Lagenorhynchus were moved to:[5]


This phylogeny is supported by acoustic and morphological data; both the hourglass and Peale's dolphins share, with the other species of Cephalorhynchus, a distinctive type of echolocation signal known as a narrow-band/high-frequency signal.[10][11] This signal is also used by porpoises (Phocoenidae) and the pygmy sperm whales (Kogiidae), but is not found among other dolphins. According to Schevill & Watkins 1971, Peale's dolphin, and the other Cephalorhynchus species, are the only dolphins that do not "whistle"; presumably, this would be the case for hourglass dolphins, as well. Peale's dolphin also shares with several Cephalorhynchus species the possession of a distinct white marking behind the pectoral (“armpit”) fin.

The melon-headed whale was first classified as member of the genus Lagenorhynchus, but was later moved to its own genus, Peponocephala.[12]

Notes

  1. ^ "Fossilworks: Lagenorhynchus".
  2. ^ Wilson, D. E.; Reeder, D. M., eds. (2005). Mammal Species of the World: A Taxonomic and Geographic Reference (3rd ed.). Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press. ISBN 978-0-8018-8221-0. OCLC 62265494.
  3. ^ "List of marine mammal species". Society for Marine Mammalogy. 13 November 2016. Retrieved 30 December 2021.
  4. ^ LeDuc, Perrin & Dizon 1999
  5. ^ a b c "List of Marine Mammal Species and Subspecies". Marine Mammal Science Taxonomy Committee. 13 November 2016. Retrieved 2025-07-17.
  6. ^ "Fossilworks: Lagenorhynchus harmatuki". fossilworks.org. Retrieved 17 December 2021.
  7. ^ Vollmer, Nicole L.; Ashe, Erin; Brownell, Robert L.; Cipriano, Frank; Mead, James G.; Reeves, Randall R.; Soldevilla, Melissa S.; Williams, Rob (2019). "Taxonomic revision of the dolphin genus Lagenorhynchus". Marine Mammal Science. 35 (3): 957–1057. Bibcode:2019MMamS..35..957V. doi:10.1111/mms.12573. ISSN 1748-7692. S2CID 92421374.
  8. ^ McGowen, Michael R; Tsagkogeorga, Georgia; Álvarez-Carretero, Sandra; dos Reis, Mario; Struebig, Monika; Deaville, Robert; Jepson, Paul D; Jarman, Simon; Polanowski, Andrea; Morin, Phillip A; Rossiter, Stephen J (2019-10-21). "Phylogenomic Resolution of the Cetacean Tree of Life Using Target Sequence Capture". Systematic Biology. 69 (3): 479–501. doi:10.1093/sysbio/syz068. ISSN 1063-5157. PMC 7164366. PMID 31633766.
  9. ^ Galatius, Anders; Kinze, Carl; Olsen, Morten; Tougaard, Jakob; Gotzek, Dietrich; McGowen, Michael (April 2025). "Phylogenomic, morphological and acoustic data support a revised taxonomy of the lissodelphinine dolphin subfamily". Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution. 205. doi:10.1016/j.ympev.2025.108299.
  10. ^ Tougaard & Kyhn 2010
  11. ^ Kyhn et al. 2010
  12. ^ Nishiwaki, M. and K.S. Norris (1966). "A new genus, Peponocephala, for the odontocete cetacean species (Electra electra)". The Scientific Reports of the Whales Research Institute. 20: 95–100.

References

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