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The IUCN lists Amazon Dolphin, Boto Vermelho, Bouto, Bufeo, Dauphin de l'Amazone, Inia, Pink Dolphin, Pink Freshwater Dolphin, Pink Porpoise, and Tonina as other names used to describe this species.

1 Taxonomy

The first type specimen was described by Henri Marie Ducrotay de Blainville in 1817.

Rice's 1998 classification lists a single species, I. geoffrensis, in the genus Inia, with three recognised subspecies:

I.g. geoffrensis - Amazon basin population (excluding Madeira river drainage area, above the Teotonio Rapids in Bolivia)

I.g. boliviensis - Amazon basin population in the Madeira drainage area

I.g. humboldtiana - Orinoco basin population

Some older classifications listed the boliviensis population as a separate species.

2 Physical description

The Boto can vary in colour from a memorable bright pink colour through to a murky brown or creamy white. Adults are typically 2.5m in length and weigh 150kgs. The flippers are large compared with body size and are curved back. The Boto does not have a dorsal fin, though a bumpy raised ridge on the back shows the evolutionary remnants of one. Like all river dolphins, it has a prominent, long, thin beak.

The Boto is a slow-swimming animal that is not prone to gregarious behaviour. Its head is very limited in its movement because of tightly fused vertebrae in the neck and upper back.

Botos generally feed from the bottom of the river and their preferred diet consists of crabs and small fish.

3 Conservation

By the precarious standards of the river dolphins, the Boto is the most secure species in the superfamily. Nevertheless the 1994 and 2000 IUCN Red List of Threatened Species classified it as vulnerable. In contrast to the rapidly dwindling areas of population of the BaijiChinese River Dolphin : Animalia : Chordata : Mammalia : Eutheria : Cetacea : Odontoceti :Lipotidae Lipotes vexillifer Binomial name Lipotes vexillifer Miller, 1918 The Chinese River Dolphin or Baiji ( Pinyin: baiji) Lipotes vexillifer is a freshwater dol and the Ganges and Indus River DolphinGanges and Indus River Dolphin Ganges River DolphinPhotographer:Brian D. Smith : Animalia : Chordata : Mammalia : Eutheria : Cetacea : Odontoceti Platanistidae Platanista gangetica Binomial name Platanista gangetica ''Platanista gangetica gangetica ''Plat, the area populated by the Boto seems to have remained fairly steady over time. Although complete surveys have not been taken owing to the inaccessibility of the rainforests, it is estimated that the total population of Botos runs into tens of thousands.

Botos have never been directly hunted. However fishermen are known to have occasionally killed animals to protect their catch and fishing gear. It is not known whether this practice is widespread enough to damage local subpopulations. Since 1988 this practice has been outlawed in BrazilThis article is about Brazil, the country. For other article subjects named Brazil see Brazil (disambiguation). The Federative Republic of Brazil Republica Federativa do Brasil in Portuguese) is the largest and most populous country in South America. and Bolivia and in protected areas of PeruFor other uses, see Peru (disambiguation The Republic of Per ( Spanish: Per Quechua, Aymara: Piruw is a country in western South America, bordering with Ecuador and Colombia to the north, Brazil to the east, Bolivia to the east, south-east and south, Chil, VenezuelaThe Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela (Spanish: Republica Bolivariana de Venezuela "Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela") is a country in northern South America. 1 It borders the Caribbean Sea and the Atlantic Ocean to the north, Guyana to the east, Brazil to and ColombiaFor other uses see Columbia. The Republic of Colombia is a country in north-western South America. It is bound by earth, to the north and north west by the Caribbean Sea, to the east by Venezuela and Brazil, to the south by Ecuador and Peru, and to the we.

The rising human population in the Amazon and Orinoco basins gives scientists cause for concern. Several damming projects of the kind that have devastated populations in Asia have been proposed for the region. Environmentalists will be vigourously opposed to such schemes.

Some Boto deaths occur to mercuryMercury also called quicksilver is a chemical element in the periodic table that has the symbol Hg ( L. hydrargyrum and atomic number 80. A heavy, silvery, transition metal, mercury is one of only two elements that are liquid at room temperature (the othe poisoning of their environment. These deaths typically occur close to gold mine s - mercury is widely used to separate gold from surrounding rock.