The mysterious animals belong to a South American group of river dolphins known as “botos,” which are found only in the Amazon, Orinoco, and Tocantins river … The combined watershed of Araguaia and Tocantins rivers (named the Araguaia Tocantins Basin) covers approximately 9.5% of Brazil's national territory. The researchers used underwater cameras and microphones to track the animals’ sounds and interactions, and also took some genetic samples to pinpoint the relationships between them. “It’s exciting,” says study co-author Laura May-Collado, a biologist at the University of Vermont. It flows through four Brazilian states (Goiás, Tocantins, Maranhão and Pará) and gives its name to one of Brazil's newest states, formed in 1988 from what was until then the northern portion of Goiás. Gabriel Melo-Santos, a marine biologist at the University of St. Andrews in Scotland, set out to record these unusually bold botos, in the hopes of learning more about Araguaian dolphin communication. “We can't say what the evolutionary story is yet until we get to know what sounds are produced by other river dolphins in the Amazon area, and how that relates to what we found,” May-Collado says. Nearly 300 fish species, including many endemic species, have been identified in the Tocantins-Araguaia River systems as well. The Black bearded saki (Chiropotes satanas), is a species of bearded saki, a type of New World monkey. The stingray has a black or dark brownish color with several small yellow spots on the dorsal disk. Besides its main tributary, the Rio das Mortes, the Araguaia has twenty smaller branches, offering many miles of canoe navigation. The researchers used underwater cameras and microphones to track the animals’ sounds and interactions, and also took some genetic samples to pinpoint the relationships between them. P. rex is an impressive 1.1 meters (3.6 ft) long and can weigh upwards of … In finding its way to the lowlands, it breaks frequently into waterfalls and rapids, or winds violently through rocky gorges, until, at a point about 160 km above its junction with the Tocantins, it saws its way across a rocky dyke for 20 km in roaring cataracts. Between the latter and the confluence with the Araguaia, the Tocantins is occasionally obstructed by rocky barriers which cross it almost at a right angle. The Tocantins River records a mean discharge rate of 13,598 m³/s and a specific discharge rate of 14.4 l/s/km². It acts as a barrier that prevents dispersal of flora and fauna between these ecoregions.[10]. The Pará River, generally called one of the mouths of the Amazon, is only the lower reach of the Tocantins. Tocantins RiverTocantins River, a waterway in Brazil that rises from the central altiplano in the state of Goiás and flows about 1,500 miles north to empty into the bay of Marapatá across from the island of Marajó on the Atlantic coast near Belém. Is active at dusk and at night. Amazon River Dolphin . Scientists are interested in learning more about river dolphin communication because they are, as the study authors write, “evolutionary relics.” The few river dolphin species that exist across the globe diverged from other cetaceans much earlier than marine dolphins, so by studying river dolphin communication, experts may be able to get a better sense of how other cetacean calls developed. This critically endangered species is endemic to eastern Amazon in Brazil, it being restricted to a relatively small region from the Tocantins River in Pará east to around the Grajaú River in Maranhão (similar to the range of the equally threatened Kaapori Capuchin). Tucurui Dam, Serra de Masa Dam, Cana Brava Dam, Pixie Angical Dam etc. Garavello, J.C.; Garavello, J.P.; and Oliveira, A.K. You can help Animal Database by expanding it. Introduction. Ichthyofauna, fish supply and fishermen activities on the mid-Tocantins River, Maranhão State, Brazil. It feeds mainly on fish but also on other animals that fall into the water such as small terrestrial invertebrates. This large, strikingly patterned freshwater stingray is endemic to the Tocantins River in Brazil. The Inia geoffrensis is endemic to the Amazon River basin where its three subspecies are found. As a result, these dolphins are difficult to observe and there is much that remains unknown about them, including the nature of their communication. The northern tip of Tocantins is covered with tropical rainforest. PLoS ONE 12(3): e0171309. Give a Gift. “[M]arine dolphins like the bottlenose use signature whistles for contact, and here we have a different sound used by river dolphins for the same purpose.”. Caserta Tencatt; L.F.; and M. Elina Bichuette (2017). [5] While most species essentially are of Amazonian origin, there are also some showing a connection with the Paraná and São Francisco rivers. [4][5] Following the construction of the massive Tucuruí dam, the flow of the river changed. Most river dolphins live throughout the Amazon River Basin, but this new species is concentrated in the Araguaia-Tocantins River system, almost completely disconnected from … Potamotrygon rex was discovered in Brazil’s Tocantins River. Smithsonian Institution, Araguaian river dolphins are highly elusive creatures. More than 350 fish species have been registered, including more than 175 endemics. [4], The Tocantins River Basin has a high richness of fish species, although it is relatively low by Amazon Basin standards. Many rivers (including the Tocantins River) traverse the state. Its basin covers an area of 301,600 square miles in the Federal District and the states of Goiás, Tocantins, Mato Grosso, Maranhão, and Pará. Identified as a, As a result, these dolphins are difficult to observe and there is much that remains unknown about them, including the nature of their communication. Keep up-to-date on: © 2020 Smithsonian Magazine. Males sometimes twirl sticks to impress females. Across 20 hours of recordings, the researchers identified 237 different sounds, and they believe the dolphins’ acoustic repertoire is likely greater than that. Things to Do in State of Tocantins, Brazil: See Tripadvisor's 21,045 traveler reviews and photos of State of Tocantins tourist attractions. Visit top-rated & must-see attractions. The study authors can’t say, for instance, whether other groups of. [4] More than 350 fish species have been registered, including more than 175 endemics. Freshwater dolphin – These pink dolphins detect prey in the muddy river waters with echo-location. Bananal Island, which lies in the Araguaia River in the southwest corner of the state, contains a major wildlife preserve and is the world’s largest known inland river island. https://www.thoughtco.com/animals-of-the-amazon-river-basin-4114280 This article is a stub. It is not really a branch of the Amazon River, since its waters flow into the Atlantic Ocean alongside those of the Amazon. But as, The mysterious animals belong to a South American group of river dolphins known as. Tributaries The Tocantins-Araguaia-Maranhão moist forest is an area of dense rain forest in the eastern extreme of the Amazon Basin flanked by the mouth of the Amazon River and the Atlantic Ocean. Brigit Katz is a freelance writer based in Toronto. California Do Not Sell My Info 9) Tocantins River basin has plenty of fish species and several other aquatic animals like Amazonian manatee, Araguaian river dolphin, Tucuxi etc. Necks twistable at right angles help them slither between flooded trees. It is found in Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, and Peru; also regions of eastern and southeastern Brazil. https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Tocantins_River&oldid=970706196, Articles containing Portuguese-language text, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License, This page was last edited on 1 August 2020, at 22:33. But there is still much research to be done. It straddles both the Amazon Rainforest and the coastal savanna. Her work has appeared in a number of publications, including NYmag.com, Flavorwire and Tina Brown Media's Women in the World. The acoustics of botos’ calls were also unique, falling between the low frequency of the calls that baleen whales rely on to communicate over long distances, and the high frequencies that marine dolphins emit when communicating over short distances. Only 1,000 may be alive today. Araguaian river dolphins are highly elusive creatures. In the state of Pará, the region extends west to the Tocantins River and south to the Mearim River in Maranhão State. Isaac Newton Thought the Great Pyramid Held the Key to the Apocalypse, Divers Discover Nazi Enigma Machine Thrown Into the Baltic Sea During WWII, Rare Iridescent Snake Discovered in Vietnam, Researchers Reveal Why Seattle Salmon Bite the Dust After Rainstorms, Shipwreck Exposed by Erosion on Florida Coast Could Be 200 Years Old, Researchers "Translate" Bat Talk. The Tocantins River is considered an important waterway, along which to ferry iron ore and grains from Midwestern Brazil to the northern state of Pará. The Tocantins is a petri dish of exotic life; 35 percent of fish species found in the river can’t be found anywhere else on Earth. 10) There are several dams which are built on Tocantins River viz. The Tocantins River Basin (which include the Araguaia River) is the home of several large aquatic mammals such as Amazonian manatee, Araguaian river dolphin and tucuxi, and larger reptiles such as black caiman, spectacled caiman and yellow-spotted river turtle. The animals were transported over ice in a cooler box and were pro-cessed within 24 hours. [6] There are several fish species that migrate along the Tocantins to spawn, but this has been restricted by the dams. The Tocantins is one of the largest clearwater rivers in South America.[3]. The flat, broad valleys, composed of sand and clay, of both the Tocantins and its Araguaia branch are overlooked by steep bluffs. It is the only major conservation unit protecting wetlands in the Tocantins Basin and is probably Brazil’s best hope for protecting wildlife associated with savanna wetlands. “We now have all these new questions to explore.”. Terms of Use It rises in the mountainous district known as the Pireneus, west of the Federal District, but its western tributary, the Araguaia River, has its extreme southern headwaters on the slopes of the Serra dos Caiapós. (2010). Though botos are typically skittish, there is a group of Araguaian dolphins that has become accustomed to humans; the animals hang out near a market in the Brazilian town of Mocajuba, where human shoppers feed them tasty fish. Cookie Policy Identified as a unique species just five years ago (though the classification is subject to debate), these cetaceans are solitary, shy of humans and endangered. The botos did infrequently emit some longer calls and whistles, but unlike bottlenose dolphins who use whistles to foster social cohesion, botos seemed to use the sound to maintain distance. The Tocantins River and its main tributary, the Araguaia River, are among the largest rivers in eastern Amazon (Figure 1) and they stand out due to host areas with significant accumulation of Quaternary sediments (MMA, 2006). [8], In its lower reaches the Tocantins separates the Tocantins-Araguaia-Maranhão moist forests ecoregion to the east from the Xingu-Tocantins-Araguaia moist forests ecoregion to the west. They are the margins of the great sandstone plateaus, from 300 to 600 metres (980 to 1,970 ft) elevation above sea-level, through which the rivers have eroded their deep beds. We have reviews of the best places to see in State of Tocantins. Aspidoras mephisto, new species: The first troglobitic Callichthyidae (Teleostei: Siluriformes) from South America. ; Petrere Junior, M.; and Juras, A.A. (2006). 1) .The Araguaia-Tocantins River basin currently does not form part of the Amazon River basin , , the two basins having become disconnected although not completely isolated at the transition of the Pliocene to the Pleistocene . The sub-basins have the following specific discharge rates: Tocantins (11 l/s/km²), Araguaia (16 l/s/km²), Pará (17l/s/km²) and Guamá (21l/s/km²). The study authors can’t say, for instance, whether other groups of Araguaian river dolphins are as talkative as the one that has become used to humans. A new species of Gelanoglanis is described based on specimens collected in the Tocantins River, a tributary of the Amazon Basin. Some species have been adversely affected and there has been a substantial reduction in species richness in parts of the river. Downstream from the Araguaia confluence, in the state of Pará, the river used to have many cataracts and rapids, but they were flooded in the early 1980s by the artificial lake created by the Tucuruí dam, one of the world's largest. The Black-fronted nunbird Monasa nigrifrons, is a species of puffbird in the Bucconidae family. There are also relatively large contiguous indigenous areas near the Araguaia National Park. A team led by Gabriel Melo-Santos, a marine biologist at the University of St. Andrews in Scotland, set out to record these unusually bold botos, in the hopes of learning more about Araguaian dolphin communication. Rising on the highlands near the town of Alto Araguaia in central Brazil, the Araguaia River flows north-northeast for 1,632 miles (2,627 kilometers) to its junction with the Tocantins River at São João do Araguaia. Inland shrimping is concentrated along the Amazon River and its floodplain near Santarém and is focused on two Macrobrachium species. [8][9] The last is the only known cave-adapted knifefish and one of only two known non-catfish in caves of the South American mainland (the other is the characid Stygichthys typhlops). The mysterious animals belong to a South American group of river dolphins known as “botos,” which are found only in the Amazon, Orinoco, and Tocantins river basins, according to the new paper, published in the journal PeerJ. One example: To enable the development of an industrial waterway on the Tocantins River, the National Department of Infrastructure and Transportation (DNIT) is planning to dynamite the Lourenço Rocks, a freshwater dolphin and turtle habitat and fishery vital to riverside communities. For example, the calls emitted by boto calves are similar to ones used by orcas and pilot whales to transmit information about group identity. The Potamotrygon Rex is a new species of neotropical freshwater stingray. Continue The Tocantins River Basin (which include the Araguaia River) is the home of several large aquatic mammals such as Amazonian manatee, Araguaian river dolphin and tucuxi, and larger reptiles such as black caiman, spectacled caiman and yellow-spotted river turtle. The most common sounds were short, two-part calls that baby botos made when approaching their mothers. The most species rich families are Ch… In the Tupi language, its name means "toucan's beak" (Tukã for "toucan" and Ti for "beak"). All the stingrays belonged to the species P. rex, which is endemic to South America and common in the middle and upper Tocantins, although it was only first scientifically described in 2016. Inia araguaiaensis. 17th Annual Photo Contest Finalists Announced. And it is also called the Great River Stingray. This area is an integral part of the Amazon biome; however, the Araguaia River is not a tributary of the Amazon. The Tocantins and these two rivers flow in different directions, but all have their source in the Brazilian Plateau in a region where a low watershed allows some exchange between them. Tocantins River, Portuguese Rio Tocantins, river that rises in several headstreams on the central plateau in Goiás estado (state), Brazil.It flows northward through Goiás and then Tocantins states until it receives the Manuel Alves Grande River.Looping westward, it marks the boundary of Tocantins and Maranhão states as far as its junction with the Araguaia River. The Araguaia flows 1,670 km before its confluence with the Tocantins, to which it is almost equal in volume. Vote Now! These include all types of crustaceans, worms, snails and insects. The Araguaia River’s southern section forms the boundary between Mato Grosso state (west) and Goiás and Tocantins states (east). It runs from south to north for about 2,450 km. True river dolphins of the genus Inia are widely distributed throughout the Amazon, Orinoco, and Araguaia-Tocantins basins (Fig. Previous theories posited that the animals’ vocal repertoire was more limited than that of their chatty marine relatives—like bottlenose dolphins—since Araguaian river dolphins are thought to spend much of their time alone. But as Gizmodo’s George Dvorsky reports, a new study suggests that Araguaian river dolphins are quite talkative indeed. In 2016, the engineering firm DTA Engenharia won a concession to dredge a roughly 43km long stretch of the river in Pará State, known as the Pedral do Lourenço. Researchers have identified more than 20 archaeologically significant sites related to indigenous cultures. Advertising Notice Though the population is low, totaling only around 14,000 people, the extreme diversity and indigenous nature of the population is anthropologically quite significant. 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