Vastallosi river dolphin

The Vastallosi River Dolphin (Platanista essendae), known as "Boto" or "Golfinho de Rio" by the Mamaco tribe, is a species of dolphin that inhabits the rivers of the vastallosi jungle and coastal areas of Vastallos. They are important to the culture of the Mamaco tribe, being described as rare and elusive night hunters that maintains the balance in the rivers. Unfortunately the last photo of a river dolphin is from 35 years ago, and the last documented sighting by a Mamaquian is from around 3 years ago leading to the belief that the species is either completely extinct or critically endangered, living only in hidden refugia in the deep jungle.

Distribuition
The historic distribution of the Vastallosi river dolphin reached as far as the coasts of Australiquia and all rivers of Vastallos, but usually only staying in coastal areas no more than 20 meters deep. But now is believed their only remaining pocket is in the northern coastal area.

Ecology
The Vastallosi river dolphin is the apex predator of its river ecosystem, preying upon every kind of fish native to the area. By being such ferocious predator, the dolphin controls the population of animals in the river, and without them the river ecosytems have been showing negative signs such as overgrazing on aquatic plants that disrupts breeding areas of native fish, reducing their population. That is known as a trophic cascade.

Behaviour
They are mostly solitary throughout the year, but once a year they form a school of normally 20 dolphins and go breed in deep waters, and that is also a hint that maybe the species is completely extinct because no one has seen a school in 4 years. After the 8 month long pregnancy the babies stay with their mothers for about 3 years, after that they will separate and the child will live on its own.

They are known for being very shy and docile with humans, but are defensive of their young.

Appearance
Although similar to the Bottlenose Dolphin (Turisops truncatus), they are smaller and have a more pink skin tone. Adults normally reach 1.2m in length and weigh about 35kg. They also have a rounded fin and small eyes, using echolocation to navigate the muddy rivers.

Threats and extinction
The biggest threats to the dolphins are destruction of their habitat by overusing their rivers and building things on the rivers such as dams, overhunting and pollution. No one has seen one specimen for 3 years which raises the question if they are extinct, but no thorough search has been made to see if a specimen is located, which creates hope for this species. Although they could be still living, they would be classified as functionally extinct due to low population numbers.

Credits
Created by caiorod001

Data by CBERO