Tucuxi

Tucuxi
Jumping tucuxi in the Orinoco river
Size compared to an average human
Conservation status
Endangered  (IUCN 3.1)[1]
CITES Appendix I (CITES)[2]
Scientific classification
Domain:	Eukaryota
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Mammalia
Order:	Artiodactyla
Infraorder:	Cetacea
Family:	Delphinidae
Genus:	Sotalia
Species:	S. fluviatilis
Binomial name
Sotalia fluviatilis (Gervais & Deville, 1853)
Range of the tucuxi (inland–hatched pattern) and costero (coastal–solid pattern)
Synonyms
Delphinus pallidus Gervais, 1855 Delphinus tuchuschi Van Beneden & Gervais, 1880 Sotalia brasiliensis Van Beneden, 1875 Sotalia pallida Gervais, 1855 Steno tucuxi Gray 1857

The tucuxi (Sotalia fluviatilis), alternatively known in Peru bufeo gris or bufeo negro, is a species of freshwater dolphin found in the rivers of the Amazon basin. The word tucuxi is derived from the Tupi language word tuchuchi-ana, and has now been adopted as the species' common name. Despite being found in geographic locations similar to those of 'true' river dolphins such as the boto, the tucuxi is not closely related to them genetically. Instead, it is classed in the oceanic dolphin family (Delphinidae).

Physically, the species resembles the bottlenose dolphins, but differs sufficiently to be placed in a separate genus, Sotalia. The Guiana dolphin (Sotalia guianensis), a related dolphin present in coastal and estuarine environments and formerly grouped together with the tucuxi, have recently been recognized as a distinct species.