Genus Sousa Gray, 1866
- Sousa Gray, J.E. 1866. Notes on the skulls of dolphins, or bottlenose whales, in the British Museum. Proceedings of the Zoological Society of London 1866: 211-216 [213] [erected as a subgenus of Steno Gray, 1846].
Type species:
Steno lentiginosus Gray, 1866 by original designation, see Iredale, T. & Troughton, E. le G. 1934. A check-list of the mammals recorded from Australia. Memoirs of the Australian Museum 6: i-xii 1-122 [67].Secondary source:
Hershkovitz, P. 1966. Catalog of living whales. Bulletin of the United States National Museum 246: viii 1-259.
Taxonomic Decision for Synonymy
- Fraser, F.C. 1966. Comments on the Delphinoidea. pp. 7-31 in Norris, K.S. (ed.). Whales, Dolphins and Porpoises. Berkeley & Los Angeles : Univ. California Press.
- Hershkovitz, P. 1966. Catalog of living whales. Bulletin of the United States National Museum 246: viii 1-259 [18] (see for extralimital synonymy)
Introduction
Jefferson & Rosenbaum (2014) revised the genus and recognised four species, treating Australian records of S. chinensis as a new species, S. sahulensis, with S. chinensis restricted to SE Asia, north of Wallace's Line. Jackson & Groves (2015) state that the small-dolphin complex including this genus along with Delphis, Tursiops & Stenella require urgent revision.
Excluded Taxa
- Misidentifications
DELPHINIDAE: Sousa chinensis (Osbeck, 1765) [the name previously used for the Australian species prior to its description as S. sahulensis] — Jefferson, T.A. & Rosenbaum, H.C. 2014. Taxonomic revision of the humpback dolphins (Sousa spp.), and description of a new species from Australia. Marine Mammal Science 30(4): 1494–1541
Distribution
States
New South Wales, Northern Territory, Queensland, Western Australia
Extra Distribution Information
Tropical and warm temperate waters of eastern Atlantic, Indian, and western Pacific Oceans only.
IMCRA
Northern Shelf Province (25), Northwest Shelf Transition (26), Northwest Shelf Province (27), Central Western Shelf Transition (28), Central Eastern Shelf Transition (39), Northeast Shelf Province (40), Northeast Shelf Transition (41)
Distribution References
General References
Jefferson, T.A. & Rosenbaum, H.C. 2014. Taxonomic revision of the humpback dolphins (Sousa spp.), and description of a new species from Australia. Marine Mammal Science 30(4): 1494–1541
History of changes
| Published | As part of group | Action Date | Action Type | Compiler(s) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 04-Feb-2023 | DELPHINIDAE | 04-Feb-2023 | MODIFIED | |
| 28-Feb-2020 | DELPHINIDAE | 21-Nov-2022 | MODIFIED | |
| 30-Jun-2016 | DELPHINIDAE | 04-Feb-2023 | MODIFIED | |
| 16-Mar-2015 | Sousa Gray, 1866 | 04-Feb-2023 | MODIFIED | |
| 16-Dec-2010 | 19-Mar-2013 | MODIFIED | ||
| 12-Feb-2010 | (import) |