South Asian river dolphin

The South Asian river dolphin (Platanista gangetica) is a freshwater or river dolphin found in India, Bangladesh, Nepal and Pakistan.

South Asian river dolphin Temporal range: 0.012–0 Ma PreꞒ Ꞓ O S D C P T J K Pg N ↓ Quaternary – recent[1]
Ganges river dolphin leaping out of the water
Size compared to an average human
Conservation status
Endangered  (IUCN 3.1)[2]
Scientific classification
Domain:	Eukaryota
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Mammalia
Order:	Artiodactyla
Infraorder:	Cetacea
Family:	Platanistidae
Genus:	Platanista Wagler, 1830
Species:	P. gangetica
Binomial name
Platanista gangetica (Lebeck, 1801); (Roxburgh, 1801)
Subspecies
Platanista gangetica gangetica Platanista gangetica minor
Ranges of the Ganges river dolphin and of the Indus river dolphin

It is split into two subspecies, the Ganges river dolphin (P. g. gangetica) and Indus river dolphin (P. g. minor).

From the 1970s until 1998, they were regarded as separate species; however, in 1998, their classification was changed from two separate species to subspecies of a single species. The idea was to wait until genetic analysis had decided how best to classify them.