Abstract

Finless porpoise mothers are able to carry their calves balanced securely on their back. This behaviour was frequently observed by the authors in the course of an expedition to the lower Changjiang (Yangtze River) between Wuhan and Dung Ting Hu in April-May 1979. Unlike Neophocaena phocaenoides, where both sexes show a wart-covered flat area of skin on the back, the Changjiang Neophocaena asiaeorientalis show only a longitudinal string of tiny denticles on the back. This difference is remarkable and confirms the separation of the two taxa.