A sound knowledge of the number of species on earth is vital for predicting extinction rates and subsequently for our understanding of conservation and biodiversity. To date, estimates of these parameters remain wildly inconsistent. Predictions for the number of living species can vary by a factor of 100 and extinction rates by even greater amounts. [...]

The Ganges River Dolphin (Platanista gangetica) is not your conventional ‘Flipper’: they are virtually blind and live in murky rivers; they aren’t particularly social and tend to live on their own or in very small groups; they have lots of jagged teeth that are constantly visible; and they won’t bounce balls on their heads. Despite [...]

Last month five Indus River dolphins (Platanista gangetica minor) were found dead in Pakistan with three females and a male found at the village of Ali Wahan and another female found floating further upstream the Indus River. The cause of death is yet to be determined and post-mortems are being carried out on three of [...]

Everyone loves dolphins, don’t they? And the baiji—the Yangtze River Dolphin—was so beautiful. Along the river, legends abound of its origin from the metamorphosis of a tragically drowned maiden. For years it was known that the baiji was at serious risk from the highly polluted river, snagged and electrocuted by indiscriminate fishing methods, cut and [...]

Here is the final blog from EDGE’s Dr Sam Turvey about his surveys along the Yangtze River in China, trying to discover the cause behind the disappearance of the baiji, and declines in other Yangtze species. The Yangtze River dolphin or baiji is unique in many ways. It is the only representative of an entire [...]