| Lipotidae Temporal range:
| |
|---|---|
| |
| Lipotes vexillifer | |
Scientific classification 
| |
| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Mammalia |
| Order: | Artiodactyla |
| Infraorder: | Cetacea |
| Parvorder: | Odontoceti |
| Clade: | Delphinida |
| Superfamily: | Lipotoidea |
| Family: | Lipotidae Zhou, Qian & Li, 1978 |
| Genera | |
|
See text | |
Lipotidae is a family of river dolphins containing the possibly extinct baiji of China and the fossil genus Parapontoporia from the Late Miocene and Pliocene of the Pacific coast of North America.[1][2] The genus Prolipotes, which is based on a mandible fragment from Neogene coastal deposits in Guangxi, China,[3] has been classified as an extinct relative of the baiji, but is dubious.[4]
The only species of the Lipotidae family that has flourished until recent times is the Lipotes vexillifer, which lives in the Yangtze River system, but its population has declined drastically since the second half of the 20th century due to the severe aggression of industrial and fishing activities in China, and is thought to have become extinct in the early 21st century.[5]
The putative kentriodontid "Lophocetus" pappus is a possible relative of Lipotidae.[6]
