Record of a dolphin (Sousa teuszii) from the coast of Mauritania

In the course of a commission to the coast of Mauritania in 1970. Prof. R.-G. Busnel collected four beach skulls of dolphins that he later brought to the British Museum (Natural History) for examination. Three of the skulls, all of them of noteworthy size, were identified as Tursiops truncatus; the fourth, quite obviously different from the others, has been identified as Sousa (=Sotalia) teuszii. This last skull is labeled “Cap Timiris 1970” and, as such, indicates an extension of the known geographical range of the species concerned. The specimen that provided the type of S. teuszii was caught in the naval harbor of the Cameroons, and this locality is the eastern-most known limit of distribution of the animal. The next record was a skull that was found by Dr. Cadenat, I.F.A.N. at M’ Bour (14°24’N, 15 58’W) some 50 miles south of Dakar and nearly 2000 miles west and north of Douala (3°45’N 9°57’E). Cadenat added three more specimens, including one in the flesh, from Joal (14°10’N 16°51’W) again in the vicinity of Dakar. The sixth specimen to become available was that found by Professor Busnel at Cap Timiris (19°23’N 16°32’W), more than 700 miles north of the previously known limit.