On July 2023 an aquatic anomaly presented itself in the Gulf of Corinth. When scientists found a rare dolphin that appears to possess a pair of “thumbs.” Alexandros Frantzis discovered this beautiful rare specie along with his team. Frantzis is the scientific coordinator and president of the Pelagos Cetacean Research Institute. He says that in 30 years of work he had never seen nothing as surprising and amazing as this new discovery.
Additionally, researchers from the Pelagos Cetacean Research Institute reported seeing the dolphin twice this summer while doing boat surveys off the coast of Greece. Frantzis said that despite the unusual shape of its fins, the animal was still spotted with the rest of the pod. The dolphin was seen “swimming, jumping, bow-riding, and playing” with other dolphins.
Explanation Behind the Anomaly
Scientists do in fact agree that the presented phenomenon is very unusual. But they do not believe that the oceanic hitchhiker’s thumbs was caused by a disease. Instead, they believe that the anomaly is to be caused by a genetic aberration originated by continuous breeding.
In Addition, Lisa Noelle Cooper, an associate professor of mammalian anatomy at Northeast Ohio Medical University, agreed with the above information. By expressing the observations made on the fallowing statement, “Given that the defect is in both the left and right flippers, it is probably the result of an altered genetic program that sculpts the flipper during development as a calf.”
Interbreeding Mutations
Furthermore, interbreeding and mutations are both extremely rare scenarios. But while both are extremely rare, researchers and experts who study striped dolphins explain why this phenomenon occurred in this particular situation. Researchers have noted that there are only 1,300 striped dolphins in the Gulf of Corinth. A low population led many related dolphins to interbreed with one another.
Moreover, for those who do not know or may be confused. Interbreeding limits the gene pool, causing offspring to inherit recessive or abnormal genes. As many can clearly see in this story, interbreeding creates inconsistencies on the body of the offspring’s resulted due to does actions.
Understanding the Dolphins Body
Additionally, to better understand this unique and extremely rare phenomenon, many need to understand how the dolphin’s body works. First, for many people who are confused about this topic, dolphins really do have thumbs, but the bones are wrapped in soft tissue. In general, dolphins have to be able to develop their fingers and no cells should die off between the fingers.
In the rare case of this dolphin captured on the Gulf of Corinth. What seemed to have happen is that its fingers and some of the tissue that would usually encase them is missing. Cooper stated and confirmed this information by saying, “It looks to me like the cells that normally would have formed the equivalent of our index and middle fingers died off in a strange event when the flipper was forming while the calf was still in the womb.” This information further confirms the fact that the mutation was caused by interbreeding.
Lastly, despite the fact that the dolphins flippers have ”thumbs” they are not meant to work like ones. This feature and characteristic is classic of and can only be seen on primates and some marsupials.
Written By Nohemi Sanchez
Sources:
LIVE SCIENCE: Extremely rare dolphin with thumbs photographed in Greek gulf
NEW YORK POST: Dolphin with ‘thumbs’ surprises scientists in first-ever discovery
THE U.S. SUN: THUMBS UP Bizarre dolphin ‘with thumbs’ baffles scientists after rare spotting off Greece
Featured Image Courtesy of Kent Bucking Flickr Page – Creative Commons License
Inset Image Courtesy of Mariano Mantel Flickr Page – Creative Common License
