Yangtze river dolphin could be extinct

Permalink: Yangtze river dolphin could be extinct

A study aiming to find out more about the Baiji - a rare freshwater dolphin in the Yangtze river - has failed to locate any sign of the species.

Last spotted in 2004, a six week acoustic survey at the end of 2006 was unable to find any trace of the animal, and have since reported in Society Biology Letters journals that the species is “likely to be extinct”.

The species (Lipotes vexillifer) was the only remaining member of the Lipotidae, an ancient mammal family that is understood to have separated from other marine mammals, including whales, dolphins and porpoises, about 40-20 million years ago.

“The Yangtze river dolphin was a remarkable mammal that separated from all other species over 20 million years ago,” Dr Turvey explained.

“This extinction represents the disappearance of a complete branch of the evolutionary tree of life and emphasises that we have yet to take full responsibility in our role as guardians of the planet.”

If confirmed, it would be the first extinction of a large vertebrate for over 50 years.