Abstract
Recent studies of the cetacean shoulder attributed variation in morphology to differences in behavior. However, the extent to which such variations are phylogenetic versus functional in origin remains unresolved. Scapular morphology as a function of taxonomic affinity and environment in three species of dolphins was examined in the present study. Data were based on linear measurements from cleaned and dried right scapulae of adult specimens of Pontoporia blainvillei, Inia geoffrensis, and Delphinus delphis. Triangles were constructed to represent shapes of supraspinous, infraspinous, and teres major fossae and subjected to tensor biometric analysis. Significant differences existed between species for mean relative size and shape of these fossae. The marine P. blainvillei differed from another iniid, I. geoffrensis (freshwater), in the shape of scapular fossae related to forelimb rotation, but was similar in these fossae to D. delphis. The latter was a more distantly related marine dolphin. The musculature of these fossae may be of particular interest for future biomechanical studies of the forelimb of marine dolphins.
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