How many baby Indo-Pacific humpback dolphins are in a litter?
A Indo-Pacific humpback dolphin (Sousa chinensis) usually gives birth to around 1 babies.
Upon birth, they weight 5 grams (0.01 lbs) and measure 1.6 cm (0′ 1″). They are a member of the Delphinidae family (genus: Sousa). An adult Indo-Pacific humpback dolphin grows up to a size of 9.8 cm (0′ 4″).
To have a reference: Humans obviously usually have a litter size of one ;). Their babies are in the womb of their mother for 280 days (40 weeks) and reach an average size of 1.65m (5′ 5″). They weight in at 62 kg (137 lbs), which is obviously highly individual, and reach an average age of 75 years.
The Indo-Pacific humpback dolphin (Sousa chinensis; Chinese: 中華白海豚; pinyin: Zhōnghuá bái hǎitún) is a species of humpback dolphin inhabiting coastal waters of the eastern Indian and western Pacific Oceans. This species is often referred to the Chinese white dolphin in China (including Hong Kong and Macao), Taiwan and Singapore as a common name. Some biologists regard the Indo-Pacific dolphin as a subspecies of the Indian Ocean humpback dolphin (S. plumbea) which ranges from East Africa to India. However, DNA testing studies have shown that the two are distinct species. Additionally, a new species (the Australian humpback dolphin (S. sahulensis)) has just recently been split off from S. chinensis and recognized as a distinct species. Nevertheless, there are still several unresolved issues in differentiation of the Indian Ocean-type and Indo-Pacific-type humpback dolphins. In fact, the taxonomic affinities of humpback dolphins in the entire Bay of Bengal (i.e., eastern India, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, and Myanmar) need to be urgently re-examined. There is also still some uncertainty regarding the exact taxonomic status of populations observed in mainland Malaysia and Borneo. In particular, a unique subspecies (S. c. taiwanensis) may exist in Taiwan (IUCN Red List version 3.1).
Other animals of the family Delphinidae
Indo-Pacific humpback dolphin is a member of the Delphinidae, as are these animals:
- Irrawaddy dolphin with 1 babies per pregnancy
- Killer whale with 1 babies per pregnancy
- Dusky dolphin weighting around 127.25 kilograms (280.54 lbs)
- Common bottlenose dolphin with 1 babies per pregnancy
- Rough-toothed dolphin becoming 32 years old
- Hourglass dolphin weighting around 110 kilograms (242.51 lbs)
- Pantropical spotted dolphin becoming 46 years old
- Long-finned pilot whale with 1 babies per pregnancy
- White-beaked dolphin with 1 babies per pregnancy
- Southern right whale dolphin weighting around 116 kilograms (255.74 lbs)
Animals that share a litter size with Indo-Pacific humpback dolphin
Those animals also give birth to 1 babies at once:
- Pennant’s colobus
- Variegated butterfly bat
- Eastern grey kangaroo
- Davis’s round-eared bat
- Short-eared rock-wallaby
- Highland brush mouse
- Smaller horseshoe bat
- Eared hutia
- Celebes crested macaque
- Dugong
Animals with the same weight as a Indo-Pacific humpback dolphin
What other animals weight around 280 kg (617.29 lbs)?
- Malayan tapir usually reaching 309.61 kgs (682.57 lbs)
- Baird’s tapir usually reaching 292.39 kgs (644.61 lbs)
- Muskox usually reaching 312.67 kgs (689.32 lbs)
- Hooded seal usually reaching 278.95 kgs (614.98 lbs)
- New Zealand sea lion usually reaching 273.67 kgs (603.34 lbs)
- Kiang usually reaching 280.57 kgs (618.55 lbs)
- Anoa usually reaching 256 kgs (564.38 lbs)
- Sable antelope usually reaching 235.2 kgs (518.53 lbs)
- Pygmy hippopotamus usually reaching 231 kgs (509.27 lbs)
- Mediterranean monk seal usually reaching 294.94 kgs (650.23 lbs)