Boto

An Amazon river dolphin

Boto is a Portuguese terminology often used to describe river dolphins, particularly those native to the Amazon and the Orinoco River tributaries (even though some species are native to salt or brackish water environments), as well as some species of oceanic dolphins and porpoises. The most famous example is the Amazon river dolphin. They are usually pink in color and tends to become more pink in age. The degree of pinkness would be a sign of maturity in males and could therefore have the same display function as antlers in red deer or the tusk in narwhals. They become more pink in age because of scar tissue that takes over their whole body. They also lose some of their pigment throughout their adolescence, turning them light pink.

Classification

The botos are a paraphyletic group, defined largely by their evolutionary convergences.

The genus Sotalia is divided into two species. The Guiana dolphin (S. guianensis) is distributed in the Atlantic, from Tramandaí, Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil, and northwards. The tucuxi (S. fluviatilis) lives in the rivers of the Amazon.

The Burmeister's porpoise (Phocoena spinipinnis) is marine and lives from Santa Catarina to the south.

The Lahille's bottlenose dolphin (Tursiops truncatus gephyreus or Tursiops gephyreus) is marine and lives in the coastal waters of the Southwestern South Atlantic Ocean, ranging from southern Brazil down to central Argentina.

The Amazon river dolphin (Inia geoffrensis) thrives in fresh water, is endemic to the Amazon basin, and is placed in the Endangered category of the IUCN.

The Araguaian river dolphin (I. araguaiaensis) is a newly identified species native to the Araguaia-Tocantins basin of Brazil.

The La Plata dolphin (Pontoporia blainvillei), another vulnerable Brazilian denizen, is a marine river dolphin that ranges from Espírito Santo, Brazil, to the south.

Folklore

The "boto" of the Amazon River regions of northern Brazil are described according to local lore as taking the form of a human or merman, also known as boto-cor-de-rosa ("pink boto" in Portuguese) and with the habit of seducing human women and impregnating them.

References

  1. ↑ Martin, A. R.; Da Silva, V. M. F. (January 2006). "SEXUAL DIMORPHISM AND BODY SCARRING IN THE BOTO (AMAZON RIVER DOLPHIN) INIA GEOFFRENSIS". Marine Mammal Science. 22 (1): 25–33. doi:10.1111/j.1748-7692.2006.00003.x. ISSN 0824-0469.
  2. ↑ Reeves, R.R.; Jefferson, T.A.; Karczmarski, L.; Laidre, K.; O'Corry-Crowe, G.; Rojas-Bracho, L.; Secchi, E.R.; Slooten, E.; Smith, B.D.; Wang, J.Y. & Zhou, K. (2011). "Inia geoffrensis". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2011 e.T10831A3220342. doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2011-1.RLTS.T10831A3220342.en. Database entry includes a lengthy justification of why this species is data-deficient.
  3. ↑ Hrbek, Tomas; Da Silva, Vera Maria Ferreira; Dutra, Nicole; Gravena, Waleska; Martin, Anthony R.; Farias, Izeni Pires (2014-01-22). Turvey, Samuel T. (ed.). "A New Species of River Dolphin from Brazil or: How Little Do We Know Our Biodiversity". PLOS ONE. 9 (1) e83623. Bibcode:2014PLoSO...983623H. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0083623. PMC 3898917. PMID 24465386.
  4. ↑ Zerbini, A.N.; Secchi, E.; Crespo, E.; Danilewicz, D. & Reeves, R. (2018) [errata version of 2017 assessment]. "Pontoporia blainvillei". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2017 e.T17978A123792204. doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2017-3.RLTS.T17978A50371075.en. Retrieved 15 December 2023.
  5. ↑ Wood, Juliette (2018). "The Boto and the Aumakua, shape-shifters and ancestors". Fantastic Creatures in Mythology and Folklore: From Medieval Times to the Present Day. London: Bloomsbury Publishing. p. 62. ISBN 978-1-4411-3060-0.