Half whale, half dolphin dubbed ‘WOLPHIN’ after stunning new hybrid species discovered near Hawaii
The mystery creature was spotted swimming with a whale in the Pacific Ocean
A BIZARRE new species of aquatic mammal dubbed a "wolphin" has been discovered by scientists.
The strange hybrid species is actually a cross between a dolphin and a whale, hence the wacky name.
Researchers spotted the wolphin near Kauai, an island in the Pacific Ocean that's part of the Hawaiian archipelago.
The wolphin was spotted swimming with other dolphins, is believed to be the first of its kind.
Scientists say the wolphin's father was a rough-toothed dolphin. Meanwhile, its mother is said to be a melon-headed whale.
Both species are rarely seen in the area where the wolphin was spotted, making this a "most unusual finding" according to expedition leader and marine biologist Robin Baird, from the Cascadia Research Collective.
So how did researchers discover that this was a brand new hybrid species?
The eagle-eyed scientists spotted that the wolphin had a tubular grey body and head that looked like its whale mother.
But it also had fins like its dolphin father.
This led biologists to collect a DNA sample, according to Baird: "We had the photos and suspected it was a hybrid from morphological characteristics intermediate between species.
"We were able to get a biopsy sample of the animal."
The new species is technically called Steno bredanensis, but it's been playfully dubbed wolphin, for short.
This isn't the first time a whale-dolphin hybrid has been discovered, however.
Another creature known as a "wholphin" was born in captivity at Hawaii's Sea Life Park aquatic park back in 1985.
However, unlike the new wolphin, the wholphin was born to a female common bottlenose dolphin and a male false killer whale.
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The wholphin was named Kekaimalu, and remains alive in captivity at Sea Life Park to this day.
Kekaimalu gave birth to a calf, sired by a male bottlenose, in December 2004. The female offspring was named Kawili Kai, and is also still alive.
It's not just whales and dolphins that can mate. Other cross-species creatures recorded by scientists include ligers (a lion-tiger cross), and zorses (a horse-zebra cross).
Researchers now plan to track the animal's range and behaviour underwater using satellite tags.
Do you like the name wolphin? Do you have a better moniker in mind? Let us know in the comments!
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