South Asian river dolphin

South Asian river dolphin Temporal range: 0.012–0Ma PreЄ Є O S D C P T J K Pg N ↓ Quaternary – recent
Ganges river dolphin leaping out of the water
Size compared to an average human
Conservation status
Endangered (IUCN 3.1)
Scientific classification
Species:	P. gangetica
Binomial name
Platanista gangetica (Lebeck, 1801); (Roxburgh, 1801)
Subspecies
Platanista gangetica gangetica Platanista gangetica minor
Ranges of the Ganges river dolphin and of the Indus river dolphin

The South Asian river dolphin (Platanista gangetica) is a freshwater or river dolphin found in India, Bangladesh, Nepal and Pakistan.

It is split into two subspecies, the Ganges river dolphin (P. g. gangetica) and Indus river dolphin (P. g. minor).

From the 1970s until 1998, they were regarded as separate species; however, in 1998, their classification was changed from two separate species to subspecies of a single species. The idea was to wait until genetic analysis had decided how best to classify them.