Rhinoceros Dolphin

The Rhinoceros Dolphin (Delphinus rhinoceros), is an unrecognized species of dolphin (a cryptid) said to have two dorsal fins (like Giglioli's Whale).

en.wikipedia.org...

Rhinoceros dolphin (The Mediterranean and the waters around the Sandwich Islands and New South Wales): Described as Delphinus rhinoceros by Quoy and Gaimard, these are dolphins - or dolphin-like whales - which possess two dorsal fins. One is near the head, where the neck would be on terrestrial animals,and theotheris farther back than usual. These have a somewhat large size,and are black with large white blotches. However, their existence was never proven and their identity remains unknown. They may belong to a new genus, in which case the name Cetodipterus rhinoceros has been proposed by Raynal.

www.angelfire.com...


Can anyone provide any more details and/or stories about sightings.

[edit on 3-8-2009 by FoxMulder91]

reply to post by FoxMulder91


I think it could be a genetic abnormality, and not a separate species.

www.marinespecies.org...

Not documented.

Umm... looks like it's just that one. That's all I can find

Online "artists impressions" show this dolphin to have a large "central" dorsal fin with a smaller one behind. But according to the books I've checked and he description of French naturalists Jean Quoy and Joseph Gaimard suggest the extra dorsal fin was actually smaller and towards the front which I think makes more sense vis-a-vis the name as well. (Sidenote: some "freak" common dolphins have been observed with a secondary dorsal fin towards their rear as per those pictures so I think the "artists" might just be getting very confused between the two different cryptid puzzles).

Quoy and Gaimard were off New South Wales in 1819 when they made their sighting of a pod of such dolphins which they described it's other features thus:

"The volume of the animal was about double that of the ordinary porpoise, and the the top of its body, as far as the dorsal fin, was spotted black and white."

They named it Delphinus rhinoceros. Other reports from the Atlantic and Mediterranean have also been made of this dolphin.

moonlightinvestigation.blogspot.com...

These guys are spotted though:
en.wikipedia.org...
en.wikipedia.org...
www.rockisland.com... (Atlantic Spotted Dolphin)

[edit on 8/3/2009 by ravenshadow13]

All I could find was this, and it has a old looking drawing of them too.

Rhinoceros dolphin (The Mediterranean and the waters around the Sandwich Islands and New South Wales): Described as Delphinus rhinoceros by Quoy and Gaimard, these are dolphins - or dolphin-like whales - which possess two dorsal fins. One is near the head, where the neck would be on terrestrial animals,and theotheris farther back than usual. These have a somehwat large size,and are black with large white blotches. However, their existence was never proven and their identity remains unknown. They may belong to a new genus, in which case the name Cetodipterus rhinoceros has been proposed by Raynal.

www.angelfire.com...

reply to post by ravenshadow13


It sounds like a textbook genetic abnormality, to me. I don't see what selective pressure could lead to this adaptation, if I'm reading this right (and maybe I'm not).

Sharks have two dorsal fins. I would imagine they could easily have misidentified a shark. Same with the whale from your web page that supposedly has two dorsal fins... whale shark maybe?

Other than that mutation would be the most logical explanation.

wait.....so no pics?

k i'll be back when there are some.