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Cranial morphology and taxonomic resolution of some dolphin taxa (Delphinidae) in Australian waters, with a focus on the genus Tursiops
Author(s) -
Jedensjö Maria,
Kemper Catherine M.,
Krützen Michael
Publication year - 2017
Publication title -
marine mammal science
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.723
H-Index - 78
eISSN - 1748-7692
pISSN - 0824-0469
DOI - 10.1111/mms.12356
Subject(s) - biology , morphometrics , delphinus delphis , zoology , cetacea , rostrum , skull , taxonomy (biology) , taxon , genus , evolutionary biology , anatomy , ecology
Phylogenetic relationships in the family Delphinidae have been widely debated. We examined 347 skulls of Tursiops , Stenella , Delphinus , Steno , Lagenodelphis , and Sousa in order to resolve the phylogenetic position of Australian species of Tursiops . Five Tursiops type specimens were included. Cranial morphology was described using 2‐dimensional (2‐D) and 3‐dimensional geometric morphometrics (3‐ GM ), counts and categorical data. Analyses showed a clear morphological separation of Tursiops , including type specimens, from other genera. The three Stenella species did not cluster together. Stenella attenuata clustered with Delphinus delphis , and Stenella coeruleoalba with Lagenodelphis hosei . Length and width of the skull and rostrum were important discriminators in both methods. For 3‐D data, round vs . angular posterior skull shape distinguished some genera. Taxa that overlapped in the multivariate analyses had different mean tooth counts. Our study challenges genetic studies that identified Tursiops as polyphyletic, with T. aduncus closer to S. attenuata .