Off the seashore of Greece , an somebody undress dolphin ( Stenella coeruleoalba ) has been spotted . While this is not unusual in itself , the reason this dolphin is make waves ( pun intend ) is due to a rather strange variation in the appearance of its flippers . The flippers on both side of meat of the animal feel lift , giving the appearance of quarter round .
researcher from thePelagos Cetacean Research Institutehave seen the dolphinfish engaging in normal conduct with its pod in the Gulf of Corinth , within the Ionian Sea between mainland Greece and the Peloponnese peninsula .
Striped dolphin are a fairly common species , with male typically 2.7 meters ( 9 foundation ) long and weighing around 158 kilograms ( 350 pound ) , while female person are 2.4 meters ( 8 fundament ) and 150 kilogram ( 330 pounds ) . They are a very social metal money and traveling in gravid groups of as many as 100 individuals , do it as pods . They are energetic , fast , and nimble through the water , and will even spring as gamey as 6 meters ( 20 feet ) above the Earth’s surface , according to theNational Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration .
Dolphins have remarkably similar hand structures to humans.Image credit: VectorMine/Shutterstock.com
" It was the very first time we run into this surprising flipper sound structure in 30 yr of view in the open sea and also in written report while monitor all the stranded mahimahi along the seacoast of Greece for 30 year , " Alexandros Frantzis , the scientific coordinator and president of the Pelagos Cetacean Research Institute , toldLive Science .
As for the cause of the strange flipper , it is most probable a problem that arose during the genetic development of thedolphinin the uterus .
Human and dolphinanatomyis remarkably similar when it come to the wrists and hand . “ dolphin , their ends are precisely like ours , they have segments that compose the wrist joint , the segment that pen the metacarpal ivory and the segment that draw up our fingers , ” saidProfessor Bruno Cozzi , generator ofAnatomy of Dolphinsand veterinary anatomy specializer , during an audience with IFLScience .
The experts think this happened during fetal development, and not injury or trauma to the flippers.Image courtesy of Alexandros Frantzis / Pelagos Cetacean Research Institute
“ Their fingers come together in a unique order , with very tough connective tissue paper . In this case , one of the bud , instead of adhere together with the other unity , has remained separate , and this probably happen in the first to second calendar month of fetal life . It is difficult to say which part without an X - ray , ” stay Cozzi . " Some abnormality has bechance during development , one in a million " .
Cozzi is confident that the cause of theflippervariation is not a result of injury . “ It ’s genetic . How can I differentiate ? Because with a trauma or injury it would only be on one side to induce the variation . It is on both sides , bilaterally on the dolphin , so it ’s genetic . ”
Cozzi wonders if the transmissible trait will be pass on to any progeny the dolphin might have , but think it is unbelievable : “ It is most likely a recessive [ trait ] , it ’s not predominant . ” However if you were to see the same variant in the flipper [ in the offspring ] , it would entail that a [ trait ] that has been bury byevolutionas useless is issue forth back again , but it ’s absolutely not probable ” .
Fortunately , Cozzi does not call up the dolphin will suffer negative consequences as a result of the variation in fin appearance . “ Since they are not using their flipper in a prehensile way , [ it ] wo n’t impress the dolphin too much . Maybe slenderly less performance in swimming . ”
On a prescribed line the dolphin has been seen " swim , leaping , bow - equitation , playing " according to Frantzis , so is likely go a normal mahimahi lifestyle and is not affected by its strange fin .
