The Baiji (Lipotes vexillifer, Lipotes meaning 'left behind', vexillifer 'flag bearer') is a freshwater dolphin found only in the Yangtze River in China. Nicknamed 'Goddess of the Yangtze' in China, the dolphin was also called Chinese River Dolphin, Yangtze River Dolphin, Whitefin Dolphin and Yangtze Dolphin. The 2007 IUCN Red List classifies the Baiji as a critically endangered species, and acknowledges the species is possibly extinct.![Baiji Extinct Baiji Extinct](/uploads/1/3/7/2/137291065/620153346.png)
![Extinct Extinct](/uploads/1/3/7/2/137291065/924765473.jpg)
The Baiji population declined drastically in recent decades as China industrialized and made heavy use of the river for fishing, transportation, and hydroelectricity. Efforts were made to conserve the species, but a late 2006 expedition failed to find any Baiji in the river. Organizers declared the Baiji 'functionally extinct', which would make it the first aquatic mammal species to become extinct since the demise of the Japanese Sea Lion and the Caribbean Monk Seal in the 1950s. It would also be the first recorded extinction of a well-studied cetacean species (it is unclear if some previously extinct varieties were species or subspecies) to be directly attributable to human influence.
The Baiji Dolphin, or the Yangtze River Dolphin, was once known as the 'goddess of the Yangtze'. However, these fresh water species was dethroned by man by 2006, and was officially announced extinct by experts. From the late 1980s to the mid 1990s, the Baiji Dolphin population had significantly decreased by more than 75% (from. Scientists on an expedition in China claimed this week that the freshwater baiji (Lipotes vexillifer), also called the river dolphin, should be declared 'functionally extinct' in the river.
Sep 08, 2020 Declared 'functionally extinct' in 2006, the Baiji River dolphin became the first cetacean to go extinct in modern times due to human influence. Because of its recent extinction, however, DNA can.
![Baiji Extinct Baiji Extinct](/uploads/1/3/7/2/137291065/620153346.png)
In August 2007, Zeng Yujiang reportedly videotaped a large white animal swimming in the Yangtze. Although Wang Kexiong of the Institute of Hydrobiology of the Chinese Academy of Sciences has tentatively confirmed that the animal on the video is probably a baiji, the presence of only one or a few animals, particularly of advanced age, is not enough to save a functionally extinct species from true extinction. The last uncontested sighting of a baiji was in 2004.
From Simple English Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Baiji[1] Temporal range: Late Miocene-Present?[2] | |
---|---|
An illustration of the baiji | |
Size compared to an average human size | |
Critically endangered, possibly extinct (IUCN 3.1)[3] | |
Scientific classification | |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Chordata |
Class: | Mammalia |
Order: | Artiodactyla |
Infraorder: | Cetacea |
Clade: | Delphinida |
Superfamily: | Lipotoidea |
Family: | Lipotidae |
Genus: | Lipotes Miller, 1918[4] |
Species: | |
Binomial name | |
Lipotes vexillifer Miller, 1918[4] | |
Natural range of the baiji |
The Chinese river dolphin (Lipotes vexillifer) or baiji was a river dolphin. It was found only in the Yangtze River in China. The last confirmed sighting of the baiji was in 2004 but there were possible sightings in 2007 and 2016 as well.[5] The baiji was declared functionally extinct in 2007. that means experts said that even if there had been a few baiji left alive in 2007, there were probably not enough left to have young and keep the species alive.[6] The IUCN Red List says the baiji is critically endangered but not really extinct.[3]
Description[change | change source]
The baiji was a graceful animal, with a long, narrow and slightly upturned beak and a flexible neck. As opposed to some other freshwater dolphins, like the Indus River dolphin, its eyes were functional, although greatly reduced. Its coloration was bluish-gray to gray above and white to ashy-white below. It weighed 135 – 230 kg (300 - 510 lb) and measured as much as 2.5 m (8.2') in length.
Reasons for extinction[change | change source]
The World Conservation Union (IUCN) noted these threats to the species: Plex mp3.
- a period of hunting by humans during the Great Leap Forward,
- entanglement in fishing gear,
- the illegal practice of electric fishing,
- collisions with boats and ships, habitat loss, and
- pollution.
Further studies have noted the environmental impact of building the Three Gorges Dam on the living space of the baiji.[7]
![Extinct Extinct](/uploads/1/3/7/2/137291065/924765473.jpg)
It was the first dolphin species that humans have made extinct.
References[change | change source]
Is The Baiji Extinct
- ↑Mead, J.G.; Brownell, R. L. Jr. (2005). 'Order Cetacea'. In Wilson, D.E.; Reeder, D.M (eds.). Mammal Species of the World: A Taxonomic and Geographic Reference (3rd ed.). Johns Hopkins University Press. pp. 723–743. ISBN978-0-8018-8221-0. OCLC62265494.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
- ↑'Lipotes vexillifer (Chinese river dolphin)'. Paleontological database.
- ↑ 3.03.1Smith, B.D.; Zhou, K.; Wang, D.; Reeves, R.R.; Barlow, J.; Taylor, B.L. & Pitman, R. (2008). 'Lipotes vexillifer'. The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. IUCN. 2008: e.T12119A3322533. doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2008.RLTS.T12119A3322533.en.
- ↑ 4.04.1Miller, Gerrit S. Jr. (1918). 'A new river-dolphin from China'. Smithsonian Miscellaneous Collections. 68 (9): 1–12.
- ↑Reuters (August 30, 2007). 'Rare dolphin seen in China, experts say'. New York Times.
- ↑Tom Phillips (October 11, 2016). 'China's 'extinct' dolphin may have returned to Yangtze river, say conservationists'. Guardian. Retrieved July 16, 2020.CS1 maint: discouraged parameter (link)
- ↑Walters, Mark Jerome (November 1993). 'Who speak for the baiji?'. Animals (EBSCO) 126 (6): 6–6.
Baiji River Dolphin
Baiji Dolphin Extinct
Retrieved from 'https://simple.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Chinese_river_dolphin&oldid=7492736'