Scientists have made an extraordinary discovery – the first-ever dolphin with ‘thumbs’. This intriguing finding has left researchers both fascinated and perplexed. While recent weeks have brought us groundbreaking discoveries about Earth’s core and hidden treasures worth billions of dollars, this dolphin’s unique feature stands out as one of the most surprising.
Newly released photographs reveal a remarkable dolphin in the Gulf of Corinth off the coast of Greece, sporting flipper-like appendages resembling thumbs. This unexpected sighting occurred during boat surveys conducted by the Pelagos Cetacean Research Institute. Interestingly, this distinctive dolphin has been spotted twice this summer, keeping up effortlessly with its pod despite its unusual trait.
Alexandros Frantzis, the scientific coordinator and president of the Pelagos Cetacean Research Institute, expressed his astonishment at this unique sighting. He shared, “It was the very first time we saw this surprising flipper morphology in 30 years of surveys in the open sea and also in studies while monitoring all the stranded dolphins along the coasts of Greece for 30 years.”
The Gulf of Corinth is already known for its diverse marine species, but this discovery has taken scientists by surprise. The individual sporting the world’s first-ever ‘thumb’ on a dolphin is a striped dolphin. Approximately 1,300 of these dolphins inhabit the Gulf. However, the unusual flipper structure of the recently discovered dolphin sets it apart, likely due to the expression of rare and irregular genes resulting from inbreeding.
Lisa Noelle Cooper, an associate professor of mammalian anatomy and neurobiology, believes that the presence of ‘thumbs’ is likely due to genetic factors. She states, “I’ve never seen a flipper of a cetacean that had this shape. 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.” Despite its unique morphology, it is heartening to see that this extraordinary animal is thriving.
Thankfully, these dolphin thumbs are not opposable like human thumbs. Dolphins are already known to possess remarkable cognitive abilities and are considered formidable contenders for “planetary dominance” alongside humans, according to a 2017 study. If they had opposable thumbs, well, we might find ourselves in quite the predicament.
