View source for Wholphin

{{Short description|Hybrid born from mating female common bottlenose dolphin and a male false killer whale}}
{{About|the animal|the magazine of short films|Wholphin (DVD magazine)}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=January 2019}}
{{Hybridbox/lua
| name = Wholphin
| image = Baby wolphin by pinhole.jpeg
| image_alt = Kawili Kai, born to a female wholphin by a male dolphin, at 9 months of age in September 2005
| image_caption = Kawili Kai, born to Kekaimalu (a female wholphin) by a male [[dolphin]], at 9 months of age in September 2005
| parent = Delphinidae
| genus1 = Tursiops
| species1 = truncatus
| link1 = Common bottlenose dolphin
| genus2 = Pseudorca
| species2 = crassidens
| link2 = False killer whale
}}
A '''wholphin''' ''([[portmanteau]] of '''wh'''ale and d'''olphin''')'' is an extremely rare [[cetacea]]n [[hybrid (biology)|hybrid]] born from a mating of a female [[common bottlenose dolphin]] (''Tursiops truncatus'') with a male [[false killer whale]] (''Pseudorca crassidens'').<ref>{{cite news |title=First ever 'wholphin' hybrid spotted in wild |url=https://news.sky.com/story/first-ever-wholphin-hybrid-spotted-in-wild-11455040 |access-date=28 September 2023 |publisher=Sky News |date=31 July 2018 |language=en}}</ref> The name implies a hybrid of whale and dolphin, though [[taxon]]omically, both are in the [[oceanic dolphin]] [[family (biology)|family]], which is in the [[toothed whale]] clade. This type of hybrid was considered unexpected given the sometimes extreme size difference between a female common bottlenose dolphin (typically 2 meters long and 300 kilograms) and a male false killer whale (over 5 meters long and over 1,800 kg). Wholphins have been born in captivity and have also been reported in the wild.<ref name="msnbc">{{cite web|url=https://www.nbcnews.com/id/wbna7508288|title=Whale-dolphin hybrid has baby wholphin|date=April 15, 2005|publisher=[[NBC News]]}}</ref><ref name=":0">{{Cite web |last=Facts |first=Whale |date=2013-01-16 |title=Wholphin / Wolphin |url=https://www.whalefacts.org/wholphin/ |access-date=2024-11-21 |website=Whale Facts |language=en-US}}</ref>

Wholphins also exhibit physical and behavioural characteristics intermediate between those of their parent species. While much larger than most dolphins, the wholphin becomes an exceptional example of [[hybrid vigour]].{{clarify|date=March 2025}}

== Examples ==
[[File:Wolphin.jpg|thumb|A Wholphin]]

The first recorded wholphin was born in a Tokyo SeaWorld in 1981; he died after 200 days.<ref name=Tribune>{{cite news|last=West|first=Karen|title=A Whale? A Dolphin? Yes, It's A Wholphin|url=https://www.chicagotribune.com/1986/05/18/a-whale-a-dolphin-yes-its-a-wholphin/|access-date=July 9, 2013|newspaper=Chicago Tribune|date=May 18, 1986 | quote = Born at Sea Life Park on May 15, 1985, Keikaimalu was referred to as a wholphin by Sea Life Park's training staff. |url-status=live| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20140320053023/http://articles.chicagotribune.com/1986-05-18/travel/8602060063_1_wholphin-false-killer-whale-bottlenose | archive-date = 20 March 2014}}</ref>

The first wholphin in the United States and the first to survive was Kekaimalu, born at [[Sea Life Park]] in [[Hawaii]] on May 15, 1985; her name means "from the peaceful ocean".<ref name=Tribune/> Kekaimalu proved fertile when she gave birth at a very young age. John Blanchard, a trainer at Sea Life Park, has said about Kekaimalu: <ref>{{Cite web |date=2023-06-07 |title=Scientists Discover Rare Whale-Dolphin Hybrid Near Hawaii |url=https://www.dogonews.com/2018/8/6/scientists-discover-rare-whale-dolphin-hybrid-near-hawaii |access-date=2024-11-22 |website=DOGOnews |language=en}}</ref><blockquote>“The wholphin was darker than the other dolphins, and her nose looked like it was chopped off… [she] represented an unusual example of hybridization between two species of dolphin with markedly different sizes and appearances.”</blockquote>

In 1991, Kekaimalu gave birth, to her daughter, Pohaikealoha, with a unknown, male dolphin. For two years, she cared for the calf, but did not nurse it; it was hand-reared by trainers. Pohaikealoha died at age 9. On December 23, 2004, Kekaimalu had her third calf, daughter Kawili Kai, sired by a male bottlenose. The calf was nursed and was very playful. Only months after birth, it was the size of a one-year-old bottlenose dolphin.<ref name="sean">{{cite news |author=Sean B. Carroll |title=Remarkable creatures: Hybrids may thrive where parents fear to tread |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2010/09/14/science/14creatures.html?src=me&ref=general |quote=The first captive wholphin, Kekaimalu, was born on May 15, 1985, to a female bottlenose dolphin named Punahele, who shared a pool with a male false killer whale named Tanui Hahai. The wholphin's size, color and shape are intermediate between the parent species. She has 66 teeth – intermediate between a bottlenose (88 teeth) and false killer whale (44 teeth) |work=[[New York Times]] |date=September 13, 2010 |access-date=September 14, 2010|author-link=Sean B. Carroll }}</ref> All three calves were three-quarters bottlenose dolphin and one-quarter false killer whale.<ref>{{cite journal|date=January–February 2006 |title=Ditching SUVs and Breeding Beefalos|journal=E Magazine|volume=17|issue=1|page=64|access-date=May 4, 2013|url=http://www.questiaschool.com/read/1G1-141706612/ditching-suvs-and-breeding-beefalos | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20130702060324/https://www.thefreelibrary.com/Ditching+SUVs+and+breeding+beefalos.-a0141706612 | archive-date = 2 July 2013 | url-status = dead}}</ref>  Kekaimalu died on July 8, 2024 at the age of 39. <ref>{{Cite web |title=Instagram |url=https://www.instagram.com/p/C9Obe9IM3ZH/?igsh=cjBkZXB1YW9zd2Qw |access-date=2024-07-11 |website=www.instagram.com}}</ref> Kawili Kai remains in captivity in Sea Life Park.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.sealifeparkhawaii.com/conservation-n-education/animal-profiles/dolphins---whales |publisher=[[Sea Life Park Hawaii]] |access-date=March 25, 2020 |title=Animal profiles: Dolphins & whales |date=December 24, 2014 }}</ref> 

===Family tree===
{{tree chart/start|align=center}}
{{tree chart | | | | | | IAN  | | | | | | PUN | | IAN = Tanui Hahai (false killer whale) ♂ | PUN = Punahele (bottlenose dolphin) ♀ |}}
{{tree chart | | | | | | |`|-|-|-|v|-|-|-|'|}}
{{tree chart | | PAI | | | | | |KEK | | | | | GOL | | PAI = Unknown dolphin ♂ | KEK = Kekaimalu (wholphin) ♀ | GOL = bottlenose dolphin ♂ | boxstyle_KEK = background-color: #ddf; |}}
{{tree chart | | |`|-|-|-|v|-|-|'| |`|-|-|-|v|-|-|'|}}
{{tree chart | | |,|-|-|-|^|-|-|-|.| | | | |!|}}
{{tree chart | | FI1 | | | | | | POH | | | KAW | | FI1 = Unnamed calf| POH = Pohaikealoha ♀ | KAW = Kawili Kai ♀ | }}
{{tree chart/end}}

== Capabilities and behaviour ==
Wholphin behavior represents both parent species. They are intelligent, highly social, and can be trained to do complex tasks; shared traits of false killer whales and bottlenose dolphins alike. Captive wholphins have been observed to be playful and show a great deal of curiosity about their surroundings, the same as bottlenose dolphins. Despite being recorded in the wild, only a few confirmed sightings of wholphins have been seen in nature.{{Citation needed|date=January 2025}} Although natural sightings are improbable due to the differences in habitat preference and social structure between the parent species, this is not impossible.

== Exterior and physical description ==
Wholphins will also have mixed traits from their parents. They are mostly smaller in size compared to the false killer whales but larger than the bottlenose dolphins. Their coloring will be mostly a dark grey, with the body proportion and dental features falling between those of the two species. For example, wholphins do have more teeth than bottlenose dolphins but fewer than false killer whales on average, showing their hybrid nature.<ref name=":0" />

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20050429030139/http://hotspotshawaii.com/Wolphin.html Waimanalo Hapa Girl Makes 10!] at Internet Archive, by Keene Rees

{{Mammal hybrids}}

[[Category:Mammal hybrids]]
[[Category:Oceanic dolphins]]
[[Category:Intergeneric hybrids]]