A dolphin with peculiar flipper abnormalities, resembling thumbs, has intrigued scientists conducting surveys in the Gulf of Corinth in Greece.
Researchers from the Pelagos Cetacean Research Institute encountered this rare mammal during their boat surveys, noting its unusual hook-shaped flippers.
Despite the distinct morphology, the dolphin displayed no signs of impairment, maintaining pace with its pod mates while engaging in typical behaviour like swimming, leaping, and playing.
Alexandros Frantzis, the scientific coordinator and president of the Pelagos Cetacean Research Institute, captured images of this exceptional dolphin, expressing astonishment at the unprecedented flipper morphology. He mentioned that this anomaly had never been observed during their three-decade-long surveys in the open sea or while monitoring stranded dolphins along Greece's coasts, reported Live Science.
While the Gulf of Corinth harbours around 1,300 striped dolphins, only one specimen exhibits this unique flipper shape. Frantzis attributed this uncommon feature not to illness but to the manifestation of atypical genes, possibly a result of consistent interbreeding within the dolphin population.
The geographical dynamics of the Gulf of Corinth, nestled between the Greek mainland and the Peloponnese peninsula, houses diverse dolphin species, contributing to this intriguing genetic variation.
Expert Lisa Noelle Cooper, specialising in mammalian anatomy, concurred that the flipper's abnormality might be genetically induced during the dolphin's development as a calf. She suggested that the altered genetic program likely sculpted both left and right flippers, resulting in this distinctive trait.