The Bolivian river dolphin (Inia boliviensis) is a freshwater dolphin of the upper Madeira River basin in the Bolivian Amazon, where it is known locally as the bufeo. The French naturalist Alcide d'Orbigny described it after exploring Bolivia between 1831 and 1833. It was long treated as a synonym of the Amazon river dolphin and was restored to species rank in the 1970s on the evidence of tooth counts and skull shape. Rapids and waterfalls on the Madeira River separate it from the Amazon river dolphin, and it is described as having more teeth, a smaller skull and a longer body. Whether it is a species or a subspecies is unsettled, because the IUCN and the Society for Marine Mammalogy treat it as the subspecies Inia geoffrensis boliviensis. Overfishing, deforestation and hydroelectric dams threaten it, and Bolivia protected it by law in 2012.
Facts
Classification
Population Trend System (Realm) ThreatsBiological Resource Use 1 ThreatsNatural System Modifications 1 Relationship to People Living or Extinct Comparison
CITES Appendix Conservation Status Connections
Child Taxon Of
Source Bolivian river dolphin (Wikipedia)
In Biome
Source Bolivian river dolphin (Wikipedia)
River, Biomes Source Bolivian river dolphin (Wikipedia)
In Ecosystem
Source Bolivian river dolphin (Wikipedia)
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Found In
Also in Geography Atlas: where this subject is found.
Source Bolivian river dolphin (Wikipedia)DescriptionQuote, Description
Locally known as bufeos, it is found in some rivers in the Upper Madeira Basin of the Bolivian Amazon.
Sources
1. Bolivian river dolphin (Wikipedia)
Lead
is a species (Inia boliviensis) or subspecies (Inia geoffrensis boliviensis) of freshwater dolphin found in upstream areas of the Amazon Basin.
Taxonomy, Species designation
much of the scientific community, including the IUCN, consider them to be a subspecies of Inia geoffrensis
Behavior
Necropsies have shown the Bolivian river dolphin diet includes a variety of different species of fish, as well as crabs.
Threats
Overfishing, deforestation, and hydroelectric construction are all major factors in the current population decline.
Conservation
Since the construction of the two hydroelectric dams in the segment of river where Bolivian river dolphins are found in 2008, the movement of the river has been blocked into two reservoirs
Description
Locally known as bufeos, it is found in some rivers in the Upper Madeira Basin of the Bolivian Amazon.
View the Source2. Global Biodiversity Information Facility: GBIF species descriptions: Inia boliviensis
Global Biodiversity Information FacilityStatus and Conservation
CITES Appendix I.
Status and Conservation, conservation status
Classified as Data Deficient on The IUCN Red List (as I. geoffrensis boliviensis).
Status and Conservation, human impact
So far, the only known human impact on the Bolivian Botois entanglement in monofilament gillnets.
View the Source Iniidae - Wikipedia
Child Taxon Of: Iniidae, Taxonomy
Inia boliviensis
Child Taxon Of: Iniidae, Lead (family contains the genus Inia, to which this species belongs)
Iniidae is a family of freshwater river dolphins containing one living genus, Inia, and four extinct genera.
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