by A strange dolphin in the Gulf of Corinth has developed intriguing, hook-shaped "thumbs" carved out of its flippers, photographs show.
Researchers with the Pelagos Cetacean Research Institute spotted the dolphin on two occasions this summer during boat surveys off the coast of Greece.
Despite the unusual appearance of its flippers, the animal kept pace with the rest of its pod and was seen "swimming, leaping, bow-riding, playing" with other dolphins, said Alexandros Frantzis, the scientific coordinator and president of the Pelagos Cetacean Research Institute.
Around 1,300 striped dolphins live in the Gulf of Corinth, where they are isolated from the rest of the Mediterranean population.
The unusual flipper "does not look like illness at all," Frantzis said. Instead, it may be "the expression of some rare and 'irregular' genes" that cropped up due to constant interbreeding, he said.
Source
Researchers with the Pelagos Cetacean Research Institute spotted the dolphin on two occasions this summer during boat surveys off the coast of Greece.
Despite the unusual appearance of its flippers, the animal kept pace with the rest of its pod and was seen "swimming, leaping, bow-riding, playing" with other dolphins, said Alexandros Frantzis, the scientific coordinator and president of the Pelagos Cetacean Research Institute.
Around 1,300 striped dolphins live in the Gulf of Corinth, where they are isolated from the rest of the Mediterranean population.
The unusual flipper "does not look like illness at all," Frantzis said. Instead, it may be "the expression of some rare and 'irregular' genes" that cropped up due to constant interbreeding, he said.
Source
Alexandros Frantzis/Pelagos Cetacean Research Institute)
