Wildlife Discovery: The Amazon River dolphin

The Amazon river dolphin, alternatively Bufeo, Bufeo Colorado, Boto Cor de Rosa, Boutu, Nay, Tonina, or Pink Dolphin (Inia geoffrensis), is a freshwater river dolphin common to the Orinoco, Amazon and Araguaia / Tocantins River systems of Brazil, Bolivia, Peru, Ecuador, Colombia and Venezuela. Since the neck vertebrae of the Amazon river dolphin is not fused, they are able to turn 180 degrees. The pink dolphin lives in the freshwater of the Amazon River. This species looks like the grey dolphin, but individuals are bigger, and, instead of a dorsal fin, they have a hump on their back. Their tails are also bigger. The pink dolphin has been listed as endangered by the International Union for Conservation of the Nature due to pollution, over fishing, excessive boat trafficking and habitat loss. The brain of the river dolphin is 40% larger than a human brain. The Amazon River Dolphin is found throughout the Amazon and Orinoco. It is particularly abundant in lowland rivers with extensive floodplains. During the annual rainy season these rivers flood large areas of forests and marshes along their banks. The Amazon River Dolphin specializes in hunting in these habitats, taking advantage of its unusually flexible neck and spinal cord to maneuver among the underwater tree trunks, and using its long snout to extract prey fish from hiding places in hollow logs and thickets of submerged vegetation. When the water levels drop, the dolphins move either into the main river channels or into large lakes in the forest, and take advantage of the concentrated prey in these reduced water bodies. In the Araguaia wetlands, Amazon River Dolphins give birth during the peak of the flood season (March–April). The young follow their parents closely for a few months, and often two adults are seen swimming with two or more small juveniles. Ends