Fraser’s dolphin (Lagenodelphis hosei)As promised, here are the full illustrations for the Fra

Fraser’s dolphin (Lagenodelphis hosei)As promised, here are the full illustrations for the Fraser’s dolphin. They are such a stunning and unique looking dolphin, lots of fun to paint. Even though they look rather outlandishly different from what we’re used to, they actually showcase the very same colouration units that, say, a bottlenose dolphin wears. Just distributed differently. Most striking is the male’s bold black stripe. Females wear it in a medium grey while in young animals it is so light as to be almost invisible, making them look much more like ‘normal’ dolphins. Also, their fins are absolutely tiny. I love how silly it looks.This species has their whole history captured in their names, which I think is beautiful. In Dutch, this species is also known as the Sarawak dolphin - the species was first described from a skull found on the island of Sarawak, Borneo, in 1895. Its Latin name ‘hosei’ honours the man who found it: Charles Hose, while its English name honours the man who examined the skull back in London: Francis Fraser. Fraser concluded the skull bore similarities to both the Delphinus and Lagenorhynchus genus and so the new genus was dubbed Lagenodelphis. It would take almost a hundred years before the species was first recorded in the flesh, in 1971. Imagine that. Just 50 years ago. It’s not a long time to get to know someone. -- source link

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