Did you know that freshwater dolphins live in the Amazon River?

The Amazon River Dolphin, also known as boto (the Portuguese word for dolphin), is an entirely separate species from its saltwater counterpart.

While the common dolphin is grey, the Amazon River Dolphin has a stunning pink color that gets even pinker as they age. In fact, the brighter a male’s pink color — which often amplifies during times of excitement — the more attractive it is to mates.

According to Latin American folklore, the boto can also shapeshift into a handsome man and seduce (“Encante”) women in nearby villages back to their underwater city.

The Boto possesses a long, toothy snout and an elongated tail. Its flat molars allow it to feed on various prey, including piranhas, cichlids, river turtles, and crustaceans.

Due to murky waters, it uses sensory hairs and echolocation to find critters in hard-to-get river beds. The Pink Dolphin is also one of the most intelligent dolphins, with brains 40% larger than humans.

However, these freshwater dolphins are now listed as endangered because fishers hunt down their meat and blubber as bait to catch catfish.