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Dolphin image via Shutterstock

Scientists discover new species of dolphin

The Wildlife Conservation Society said it was a significant finding as identifying a new mammal species is rare.

SCIENTISTS EXPRESSED “SURPRISE and delight” today after a new humpback dolphin species was identified off northern Australia, with genetic mapping singling out an animal not previously known to science.

A global team led by the US-based Wildlife Conservation Society made the discovery after examining almost 200 dead dolphins and tissue specimens from live animals across the four Atlantic, Indian and Indo-Pacific ocean areas where humpbacks are known to live.

A study of the beak length and number of teeth in 180 skulls from beached and museum specimens, as well as live DNA samples from 235 dolphins, identified a new species in the humpback, or sousa genus, which frequents waters off northern Australia.

“Based on our combined genetic and morphological analyses, there is convincing evidence for at least four species within the genus,” lead author Martin Mendez wrote in the paper, published in the latest edition of the journal Molecular Ecology, adding that this included “a new as-yet-unnamed species off northern Australia”.

Completely new species

Biologist Guido Parra, a member of the study team from Australia’s Flinders University, said it had long been debated that local humpbacks were distinct from their more distant cousins but there had been insufficient evidence until now to support the hypothesis.

“The unique thing about this study is that in previous debates the data sets were always limited – either purely genetic or based on traditional taxonomic studies,” Parra told AFP.

“We were able to actually marry those two – so morphological and genetic – and not only marry those two approaches but also look across the entire (genus) range.

“We are very surprised and of course delighted to discover the recognition of a completely new species.”

Significant finding

Humpback dolphins have a vast home range stretching from the tip of Australia all the way to Africa, and they are considered native to some 40 countries across Asia, Africa and the Pacific.

Parra gathered skin biopsy samples from both deceased and live humpbacks off northern Australia for the study, which he said was a “long-term collaborative global project”.

The Wildlife Conservation Society said it was a significant finding – identifying a new mammal species is rare – and that it hoped it would boost conservation efforts.

Two of the three already-identified sousa species are in decline and considered at risk from habitat loss and fishing, with S. chinensis, or Chinese white dolphin, found in the eastern Indian and West Pacific Oceans, listed as near-threatened by the International Union for Conservation of Nature.

S. teuszii, which lives in the Atlantic off West Africa and is known as the Atlantic humpback or Teusz’s dolphin, is rated vulnerable.

The next step in the process would be to draw up a manuscript of the findings for consideration by the International Commission on Zoological Nomenclature, the body responsible for formally declaring and naming new species.

Parra said he could not reveal what potential names were being debated for the new humpback but said it would hopefully be “related to Australia”.

Lost world

It has been a bumper week for Australian scientists, with the discovery unveiled Monday of three new vertebrate species in a remote part of the country’s north, isolated for millions of years and described as a “lost world”.

Humpback dolphins are so named due to a distinctive hump just below their dorsal fin, which is also uniquely elongated.

Infant humpbacks are born a creamy or pearly white similar to a beluga whale and darken to grey as they reach adulthood. They typically grow to eight feet in length and live in coastal waters, deltas and estuaries.

- © AFP 2013.

Read: Study finds dolphins use names to call each other>

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    Mute garretcollins
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    Aug 11th 2011, 3:22 PM

    @ Tal

    It says all viruses.

    Arthritis is not a virus however, it’s an inflammatory disorder.

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    Mute Tal Tallon
    Favourite Tal Tallon
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    Aug 11th 2011, 2:25 PM

    If it really works, then it could be very good.

    I wonder is it only recently contracted viruses or could it be used against someone who has arthritis for years?

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    Mute Andy
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    Aug 11th 2011, 7:07 PM

    Since when is Arthritis a virus?

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    Mute Tommy Murphy
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    Aug 12th 2011, 12:28 AM

    What an idiot!!! Give urself a big wet slap in the face

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    Mute Lenny Sloane
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    Aug 11th 2011, 8:56 PM

    Would be amazing if it can ultimately kill the HIV and Aids virus.

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    Mute Oisín Ó Dálaigh
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    Aug 11th 2011, 3:50 PM

    “A new drug called DRACO…”

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    Mute Shane McCarthy
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    Aug 11th 2011, 2:41 PM

    Dangerous stuff. What happens if the bugs become immune, we could all end up being much worse.

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    Mute Sarah Hempenstall
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    Aug 11th 2011, 4:33 PM

    Looking at the paper; they target the virus by inducing programmed cell death (or apoptosis) in infected cells. The reason bacteria become resistant is that you are killing off the bacteria with a compound that you can tolerate but the bacteria cannot. The problem is that you’ll eventually come up against a bacterium that has innate immunity to a certain antibiotic and won’t be killed. Then it will divide and multiply and produce a big whack of resistant bacteria and, because of something called horizontal gene transfer, they can transfer resistance into bacteria that were not resistant at the start. A bacterium is a cell in and of itself and can reporoduce-a virus can’t. It reproduces ONLY by hijacking the cell it has infected. If what this group in MIT have developed works it will target and kill off infected cells. Since the viral marker they target is dsRNA, something the virus produces as it reproduces, it looks pretty unlikely a virus could ever, ever develop resistance simply because it can’t exist without producing dsRNA. dsRNA is not produced by healthy cells so it looks like a good marker. It’s early days but it looks like an elegant solution to a problem that kills and injures millions. Don’t be so negative and immediately assume we’ll all be worse off!

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    Mute Colin Rodgers
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    Aug 12th 2011, 10:31 AM

    Pretty sure this is how Zombie Apocalypses start.

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    Mute Brian McGuinness
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    Aug 12th 2011, 8:36 AM

    This would put a selection pressure on viruses forcing any more virulent mutations to ultimately survive, reproduce and beat anything we can throw at them. In short we’re talking the end of the world here folks. On the bright side, the weather’s supposed to be not too bad for the weekend. Yay!

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    Mute Tal Tallon
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    Aug 12th 2011, 9:37 AM

    Shit, I meant long term virus’s… Ah well

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