There is a new paper on dolphin molecular phylogeny: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1055790320300282
The paper shows that:
1. Burrunan dolphin is not a valid species (but a good subspecies).
2. Genera Stenella, Delphinus and Lagenodelphis should be lumped (Delphinus has priority). This actually has been clear for some time, but here’s another confirmation.
3. The authors say Tursiops should be kept as separate genus because it’s monophyletic, but I think it should be also subsumed into Delphinus, considering the long history of hybridization.
dolphin phylogeny
Related Articles
-
Star-nosed Mole RFI
Today two dead Star-nosed Moles were found in my yard in southern Michigan. I’ve lived here for 30 years...
-
North American Flying Squirrels, etc.
If you are ever in the Washington, DC area in winter, the Long Branch Nature Center here in Arlington...
-
England RFI
My parents are planning a family trip to England including my wife, brother and I. They are going to...
-
Mounting a Flashlight for Mammal Watching
Mounting a Flashlight for Mammal Watching This article describes how to mount a flashlight for nocturnal mammal observation with...
-
World’s Best Mammalwatching (and a reminder about the 2018 Oscars/NUTTER awards)
Thank you to those who responded to my post from a few days ago about the mammalwatching Oscars. Lots...
-
Mink Sighting in California (maybe)
A birder I don’t know mentions in a chatty bird report that she had a mink in Lassen NP...
-
A Hollywood Twitch
OK its birds… but the song remains the same. And I’m excited jon THE BIG YEAR – starring Owen...
-
One thing to note however is that this paper is very very focused on Tursiops, with limited sampling of other relevant taxa, including no Sousa and not all Stenella species. So while all of these taxa (with the exception of Lagenodelphis perhaps) be lumped into Delphinus, I am skeptical we will get much more movement on the area.
Although with more sampling, it wouldn’t surprise me if Lagenodelphis remains valid. Morphologically it is distinct and prior phylogenetic analyses place it as the most basal species within the clade.
I had an undergraduate student a few summers ago that looked at how distinct the skulls of the different dolphins in this subfamily were from one another, using morphometrics. Samples sizes were limited for most species, but Delphinus and Stenella did show a lot of overlap, with Tursiops being very distinct. Need to revisit that project again once I increase my sample sizes.