A rare dolphin with "thumb" on the fin

A rare type of mammal with fins resembling “handles” was discovered in the Gulf of Corinth!

The reason for the “thumb” formed on the fin is that the first primitive cetaceans were land mammals.

Life came to land from the water, but sometimes something draws it back. Marine mammals – whales, seals, dugongs – grew flippers or fins, changed their body shape and adapted to long or even permanent stays in the aquatic environment. But they also once had land ancestors.

A unique discovery was made by the Pelagos Cetological Research Institute, which recorded bottlenose dolphin with thumbs on both fins. As noted at the institute, which has been conducting research on dolphins since 1995, In the Gulf of Corinth there is a mixed community of dolphins, unique in the world.

Important observations were made during the 2023 dolphin abundance survey, but one that stands out is a unique bottlenose dolphin with “thumbs” on its fins. As My Dolphin Club experts note, “the reason for the formation of “fingers” is that the first primitive cetaceans were land mammals, and quadrupeds at that. The transition to marine mammals took 15 million years, during which time the front legs became fins and the back legs became tails. So now dolphins don’t have legs to walk, but they have lateral fins and a tail that help them swim many kilometers every day and at very high speeds.”

By the way, dolphins are one of the representatives of the animal world that “have sex” consciously, and not exclusively for procreation.

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