Boto is a Portuguese name given to several types of dolphins and river dolphins native to the Amazon and the Orinoco River tributaries. A few botos exist exclusively in fresh water, and these are often considered primitive dolphins. The Boto dolphin is usually pink in color and tends to become more pink in age. The degree of pinkness would be a sign of maturity in males and could therefore have the same display function as antlers in red deer or the tusk in narwhals. They become more pink in age because of scar tissue that takes over their whole body. They also lose some of their pigment throughout their adolescence, turning them light pink.[1]
Classification
The botos are a paraphyletic group, defined largely by their evolutionary convergences.
The genus Sotalia is divided into two species. The costero (S. guianensis) is distributed in the Atlantic, from Tramandaí, Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil, and northwards. The tucuxi (S. fluviatilis) lives in the rivers of the Amazon.
Burmeister's porpoise is marine and lives from Santa Catarina to the south.
The Amazon river dolphin (Inia geoffrensis) thrives in fresh water, is endemic to the Amazon basin, and is placed in the Endangered category of the IUCN.[2]
The Araguaian river dolphin (I. araguaiaensis) is a newly identified species native to the Araguaia-Tocantins basin of Brazil.[3]
The La Plata dolphin (Pontoporia blainvillei), another vulnerable Brazilian denizen, is a marine river dolphin that ranges from Espírito Santo, Brazil, to the south.[4]
- Suborder Odontoceti
- Superfamily Delphinoidea
- Family Delphinidae
- Genus Sotalia
- Species Sotalia fluviatilis, tucuxi
- Species Sotalia guianensis, costero
- Genus Sotalia
- Family Phocoenidae
- Genus Phocoena
- Species Phocoena spinipinnis, Burmeister's porpoise
- Genus Phocoena
- Family Delphinidae
- Superfamily Platanistoidea
- Family Iniidae
- Genus Inia
- Species Inia araguaiaensis
- Species Inia geoffrensis
- Subspecies Inia geoffrensis geoffrensis, Amazon river dolphin
- Subspecies Inia geoffrensis boliviensis, Bolivian river dolphin
- Subspecies Inia geoffrensis humboldtiana, Humboldt's river dolphin
- Genus Inia
- Family Pontoporiidae
- Genus Pontoporia
- Species Pontoporia blainvillei, la Plata dolphin or Franciscana
- Genus Pontoporia
- Family Iniidae
- Superfamily Delphinoidea
Folklore
The "boto" of the Amazon River regions of northern Brazil are described according to local lore as taking the form of a human or merman, also known as boto-cor-de-rosa ("pink boto" in Portuguese) and with the habit of seducing human women and impregnating them.[5]
References
- ^ Martin, A. R.; Da Silva, V. M. F. (January 2006). "SEXUAL DIMORPHISM AND BODY SCARRING IN THE BOTO (AMAZON RIVER DOLPHIN) INIA GEOFFRENSIS". Marine Mammal Science. 22 (1): 25–33. doi:10.1111/j.1748-7692.2006.00003.x. ISSN 0824-0469.
- ^ Reeves, R.R.; Jefferson, T.A.; Karczmarski, L.; Laidre, K.; O'Corry-Crowe, G.; Rojas-Bracho, L.; Secchi, E.R.; Slooten, E.; Smith, B.D.; Wang, J.Y. & Zhou, K. (2011). "Inia geoffrensis". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2011 e.T10831A3220342. doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2011-1.RLTS.T10831A3220342.en. Database entry includes a lengthy justification of why this species is data-deficient.
- ^ Hrbek, Tomas; Da Silva, Vera Maria Ferreira; Dutra, Nicole; Gravena, Waleska; Martin, Anthony R.; Farias, Izeni Pires (2014-01-22). Turvey, Samuel T. (ed.). "A New Species of River Dolphin from Brazil or: How Little Do We Know Our Biodiversity". PLOS ONE. 9 (1) e83623. Bibcode:2014PLoSO...983623H. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0083623. PMC 3898917. PMID 24465386.
- ^ Zerbini, A.N.; Secchi, E.; Crespo, E.; Danilewicz, D. & Reeves, R. (2018) [errata version of 2017 assessment]. "Pontoporia blainvillei". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2017 e.T17978A123792204. doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2017-3.RLTS.T17978A50371075.en. Retrieved 15 December 2023.
- ^ Wood, Juliette (2018). "The Boto and the Aumakua, shape-shifters and ancestors". Fantastic Creatures in Mythology and Folklore: From Medieval Times to the Present Day. London: Bloomsbury Publishing. p. 62. ISBN 978-1-4411-3060-0.
