Which river dolphin can turn its head due to a flexible neck?

The Amazon river dolphin can turn its head because it has an unusually flexible neck. Also called the boto or pink river dolphin, it retains mobility between cervical vertebrae that are fused or much less flexible in most oceanic dolphins.

This adaptation is especially useful in the Amazon basin’s flooded forests. During high-water seasons, the dolphins navigate among submerged tree trunks, roots, and branches, where turning the entire body would be difficult. Moving the head independently helps them inspect narrow spaces and locate prey with echolocation in dark, muddy water.

Amazon river dolphins are also distinctive in other ways. They are born gray and may become pinker with age, particularly males, whose skin often shows extensive pink scar tissue from aggressive encounters. Their long snouts and sensory bristles help them search for fish and other prey.

The ability is sometimes exaggerated as a dolphin turning its head completely around. It actually means the head can pivot far more freely from side to side than that of most dolphins. The Ganges and Indus river dolphins also have flexible necks, but the Amazon river dolphin is the standard answer to this question.