Fraser's Dolphin

About the Fraser's Dolphin

Fraser's dolphin or the Sarawak dolphin (Lagenodelphis hosei) is a cetacean in the family Delphinidae found in deep waters in the Pacific Ocean and to a lesser extent in the Indian and Atlantic Oceans. Lagenodelphis hosei is a species of the delphinid family, distinguished from other dolphins as a monotypic genus, Lagenodelphis.

In 1895, Charles E. Hose found a skull on a beach in Sarawak, Borneo. He donated it to the British Museum. The skull remained unstudied until 1956 when Francis Fraser examined it and concluded that it was similar to species in both the genera Lagenorhynchus and Delphinus but not the same as either. A new genus was created by simply merging these two names together. The specific name is given in Hose's honour.

It wasn't until 1971 that the whole body of a Fraser's dolphin, as it was by then becoming known, was discovered. At that time, washed-up specimens were found on Cocos Island in the eastern Pacific, in South Australia and in South Africa.

Fraser's dolphins are about 1 m (3 ft 3 in) long and 20 kg (44 lb) weight at birth, growing to 2.75 m (9 ft 0 in) and 200 kg (440 lb) by adulthood. They have a stocky build, a small fin... Wikipedia →