Hourglass dolphin
Lagenorhynchus cruciger (Quoy & Gaimard, 1824)
LCLeast Concernwhales and dolphins
The hourglass dolphin (Lagenorhynchus cruciger) is a species in the family Delphinidae, order Cetacea. Recorded adults weigh 72.4 kg to 110 kg and live up to 18 years. Its IUCN Red List status is Least Concern.
Quick facts about the hourglass dolphin
- Weight
- 72.4 kg – 110 kgsrc for Weight
- Length
- Not recorded
- Lifespan
- 18 yearssrc for Lifespan
- Diet
- Piscivoresrc for Diet
- Longest recorded lifespan
- 46 years
- Main food
- Not recorded
- Habitat
- Not recorded
- Gestation
- 365 dayssrc for Gestation
- Young per litter or clutch
- 1src for Young per litter or clutch
- Age at maturity
- 6.04 years – 8.24 yearssrc for Age at maturity
- Active
- Day and night (cathemeral)src for Active
- Lifestyle
- Marinesrc for Lifestyle
- Conservation status
- Least Concern (IUCN)src for Conservation status
- Countries on record
- Not recorded
Where does the hourglass dolphin live?
Not recorded
What is the hourglass dolphin?
The hourglass dolphin (Cephalorhynchus cruciger) is a small dolphin in the family Delphinidae that inhabits offshore Antarctic and sub-Antarctic waters. It is commonly seen from ships crossing the Drake Passage but has a circumpolar distribution.
The species was identified as a new species by Jean René Constant Quoy and Joseph Paul Gaimard in 1824 from a drawing made in the South Pacific in 1820. It is the only cetacean to have been widely accepted as a species solely on witness accounts.
From the Wikipedia article “Hourglass dolphin” (en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Hourglass_dolphin&oldid=1371764022), by Wikipedia contributors, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0 (creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0). This block is kept separate from our own text.
Is the hourglass dolphin endangered?
The hourglass dolphin is listed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List: it is not currently at risk of extinction.
- LCLeast Concern
- NTNear Threatened
- VUVulnerable
- ENEndangered
- CRCritically Endangered
- EWExtinct in the Wild
- EXExtinct
Category via Wikidata (CC0). Find the full assessment on the IUCN Red List. See all Least Concern species.
How is the hourglass dolphin classified?
- kingdomAnimalia
- phylumChordata
- classMammalia
- orderCetacea
- familyDelphinidae
- genusLagenorhynchus
- SpeciesLagenorhynchus cruciger (Quoy & Gaimard, 1824)
Synonyms Cephalorhynchus cruciger, Delphinus albigena, Delphinus bivitattus, Delphinus cruciger, Delphinus livittatus, Lagenodelphis cruciger, Lagenorhynchus clanculus, Lagenorhynchus wilsoni, Phocaena homeii, Sagmatias cruciger
Other names and names in other languages (1)
- Southern white-sided dolphinEnglish
Relatives of the hourglass dolphin
Other species in the same genus Lagenorhynchus.
White-beaked dolphin
Lagenorhynchus albirostris
Atlantic white-sided dolphin
Lagenorhynchus acutus
Dusky dolphin
Lagenorhynchus obscurus
Pacific white-sided dolphin
Lagenorhynchus obliquidens
Peale's dolphin
Lagenorhynchus australis
CompareHourglass dolphin vs White-beaked dolphinHourglass dolphin vs Atlantic white-sided dolphinHourglass dolphin vs Dusky dolphinHourglass dolphin vs Pacific white-sided dolphin
Common questions
Answered only where our data holds the answer.
How big is the hourglass dolphin?
An adult hourglass dolphin weighs 72.4 kg – 110 kg, according to values recorded on Wikidata.
Is the hourglass dolphin endangered?
The hourglass dolphin is listed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List, meaning it is not currently at risk of extinction.
How long does the hourglass dolphin live?
The hourglass dolphin has a recorded lifespan of 18 years.
How long is the hourglass dolphin pregnant?
The recorded gestation period is 365 days.
What kind of animal is the hourglass dolphin?
The hourglass dolphin (Lagenorhynchus cruciger) belongs to the family Delphinidae in the order Cetacea.
Sources and how to cite this page
Data as of 2026-11-11. How this page is put together.
- An amniote life-history database to perform comparative analyses with birds, mammals, and reptiles · CC0 1.0 · E096-269
Myhrvold, N.P., Baldridge, E., Chan, B., Sivam, D., Freeman, D.L. & Ernest, S.K.M. (2015) An amniote life-history database to perform comparative analyses with birds, mammals, and reptiles. Ecology 96: 3109. https://doi.org/10.1890/15-0846R.1. Data: https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.3563457.v1 - Catalogue of Life eXtended Release · CC BY 4.0 · 2026-10-16 XR
Catalogue of Life (2026). Catalogue of Life eXtended Release, version 2026-10-16 XR. Catalogue of Life Foundation, Amsterdam, Netherlands. https://doi.org/10.48580/dgzlf - Wikimedia Commons · per file (CC0 / public domain / CC BY green, CC BY-SA amber, anything else not displayed) · 2026-11-11
Wikimedia Commons contributors. Wikimedia Commons. https://commons.wikimedia.org (each file credited to its author under its own licence). - EltonTraits 1.0: species-level foraging attributes of the world's birds and mammals · CC0 1.0 · 1.0
Wilman, H., Belmaker, J., Simpson, J., de la Rosa, C., Rivadeneira, M.M. & Jetz, W. (2014) EltonTraits 1.0: Species-level foraging attributes of the world's birds and mammals. Ecology 95: 2027. https://doi.org/10.1890/13-1917.1. Data: https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.3559887.v1 - Wikidata · CC0 1.0 · 2026-11-11
Wikidata contributors. Wikidata. https://www.wikidata.org (data retrieved via the Wikidata Query Service). - Wikipedia (English) · CC BY-SA 4.0 · 2026-11-11
Wikipedia contributors. Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. https://en.wikipedia.org (text under CC BY-SA 4.0; each block names its article and revision).
Embed a card for this animal on your own site
Copy this code. The card shows the photo with its credit, key facts and a link back to this page.
CreatureData. (2026). Hourglass dolphin (Lagenorhynchus cruciger). Retrieved from https://creaturedata.com/animals/hourglass-dolphin
“Hourglass dolphin (Lagenorhynchus cruciger).” CreatureData, 2026, https://creaturedata.com/animals/hourglass-dolphin.
@misc{hourglass_dolphin_2026,
title = {Hourglass dolphin (Lagenorhynchus cruciger)},
author = {{CreatureData}},
year = {2026},
url = {https://creaturedata.com/animals/hourglass-dolphin},
note = {Data as of 2026-11-11}
}