Classifying the Humpback Dolphin

Ok, so you've likely heard of humpback whales, but did you know there are humpback dolphins too? In-fact, frustrated researchers have finally decided that there are four different species of humpback dolphins, the latest being the Australian humpback dolphin.

"We've finally managed to settle many long-standing questions about humpback dolphins - particularly how many species actually exist - using a huge body of data collected over two centuries and analyzed with the latest scientific tools," Thomas A. Jefferson of the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) said in a statement.

Jefferson recently co-authored a study detailing this classification of dolphins, which is the culmination of a 17-year long analysis of all available historical records, physical descriptions, and genetic data of humpback dolphins.

According to Jefferson, not all dolphins are the same, and the humpback dolphin in-particular was a very taxonomically confused group; researchers just didn't know what to make of it.

Disputes between modern naturalists have arisen concerning this dolphin, where many stipulated that they are all variations of the same species, while others claim that there are actually as many as nine separate humpback dolphin species.

It wasn't until researchers from the WSC in conjunction with a number of other institutions provided definitive data last year that a comprehensive study of these marine bulky dolphins could be launched.

Now, the Australian humpback dolphin joins the Atlantic, Indo-Pacific, and Indian Ocean humpback dolphins as the four definitive species, with unique skeletal structures and differences in appearance despite sharing a common archetype. This should help conversationalists better differentiate and understand the animals.

"The formal recognition and naming of a new species brings with it a need to formulate or update plans for protection of these dolphins," added Howard Rosenbaum, Director of WCS's Ocean Giants Program. "Humpback dolphins throughout their range are threatened with fisheries interactions, vessel impacts, and development in their coastal habitats. Efforts to protect humpback dolphins and other coastal dolphins, and their most important habitats are essential for the survival of these species."

What is known about the Australian humpback dolphin is detailed in-full in the journal Marine Mammal Science.