CreatureData

Indus river dolphin

Platanista minor Owen, 1853

ENEndangeredwhales and dolphins

The indus river dolphin (Platanista minor) is a species in the family Platanistidae, order Cetacea. Recorded adults weigh 83.9 kg to 84 kg and live up to 28 years. Its IUCN Red List status is Endangered.

Indus river dolphin (Platanista minor)
Photo: Chris_huh · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Wikimedia Commons

Quick facts about the indus river dolphin

Weight
83.9 kgsrc for Weight
Length
Not recorded
Lifespan
28 yearssrc for Lifespan
Diet
Carnivoresrc for Diet
Main food
Not recorded
Habitat
Not recorded
Gestation
308 dayssrc for Gestation
Young per litter or clutch
1src for Young per litter or clutch
Age at maturity
10 yearssrc for Age at maturity
Active
Day and night (cathemeral)src for Active
Lifestyle
Marinesrc for Lifestyle
Conservation status
Endangered (IUCN)src for Conservation status
Countries on record
Not recorded

Where does the indus river dolphin live?

Not recorded

What is the indus river dolphin?

Quoted from WikipediaCC BY-SA 4.0

The Indus river dolphin (Platanista minor) is a freshwater dolphin in the family Platanistidae. It is endemic to the rivers of the Indus basin in Pakistan and northwestern India. It was the first discovered side-swimming cetacean. In Pakistan, it occurs in the Indus River, where five small sub-populations are separated by irrigation barrages. In India, a very small isolated population at a very high risk of extinction lives in the Beas River. It is the national mammal of Pakistan and the state aquatic animal of Punjab, India.

From the 1970s until 1998, the Ganges River dolphin (Platanista gangetica) and the Indus dolphin were regarded as separate species; however, in 1998, their classification was changed from two separate species to subspecies of the South Asian river dolphin. However, more recent studies support them being distinct species.

From the Wikipedia article “Indus river dolphin” (en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Indus_river_dolphin&oldid=1378735617), 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 indus river dolphin endangered?

The indus river dolphin is listed as Endangered on the IUCN Red List: it faces a very high risk of extinction in the wild.

  1. LCLeast Concern
  2. NTNear Threatened
  3. VUVulnerable
  4. ENEndangered
  5. CRCritically Endangered
  6. EWExtinct in the Wild
  7. EXExtinct

Category via Wikidata (CC0). Find the full assessment on the IUCN Red List. See all Endangered species.

How is the indus river dolphin classified?

  1. kingdomAnimalia
  2. phylumChordata
  3. classMammalia
  4. orderCetacea
  5. familyPlatanistidae
  6. genusPlatanista
  7. SpeciesPlatanista minor Owen, 1853

Synonyms Platanista gangetica minor, Platanista indi, Susu gangetica

Other names and names in other languages (24)
  • BhulanEnglish
  • BhulanEnglish
  • Blind dolphinEnglish
  • Indus blind dolphinEnglish
  • Indus dolphinEnglish
  • Indus susuEnglish
  • جبحل السندArabic
  • دولفين نهر السندArabic
  • delfínovec induskýCzech
  • IndusdelfinGerman
  • Indus-DelphinGerman
  • Delfín del IndoSpanish
  • Delfín del río IndoSpanish
  • induksendelfiiniFinnish
  • Dauphin de l'IndusFrench
  • Plataniste de l'IndusFrench
  • golfiño do río indoGalician
  • delfino dell'IndoItalian
  • インダスカワイルカJapanese
  • ਸਿੰਧ ਨਦੀ ਡੌਲਫਿਨPunjabi
  • suzu indusowyPolish
  • Индский дельфинRussian
  • малый гангский дельфинRussian
  • Indus Nehir YunusuTurkish

Catalogue of LifeWikipediaiNaturalistWikidataWoRMSIUCN Red List

Relatives of the indus river dolphin

Other species in the same genus Platanista.

CompareIndus river dolphin vs Ganges river dolphin

Common questions

Answered only where our data holds the answer.

How big is the indus river dolphin?

An adult indus river dolphin weighs 83.9 kg, according to values recorded on Wikidata.

Is the indus river dolphin endangered?

The indus river dolphin is listed as Endangered on the IUCN Red List, meaning it faces a very high risk of extinction in the wild.

How long does the indus river dolphin live?

The indus river dolphin has a recorded lifespan of 28 years.

How long is the indus river dolphin pregnant?

The recorded gestation period is 308 days.

What kind of animal is the indus river dolphin?

The indus river dolphin (Platanista minor) belongs to the family Platanistidae in the order Cetacea.

Sources and how to cite this page

Data as of 2026-11-11. How this page is put together.

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APA

CreatureData. (2026). Indus river dolphin (Platanista minor). Retrieved from https://creaturedata.com/animals/indus-river-dolphin

MLA

“Indus river dolphin (Platanista minor).” CreatureData, 2026, https://creaturedata.com/animals/indus-river-dolphin.

BibTeX
@misc{indus_river_dolphin_2026,
  title = {Indus river dolphin (Platanista minor)},
  author = {{CreatureData}},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://creaturedata.com/animals/indus-river-dolphin},
  note = {Data as of 2026-11-11}
}