South Asian river dolphin display the variances needed to support their classification as separate species. Thus, at present, a single species with two subspecies is recognized in the genus "Platanista", "P. g. gangetica" (Ganges river dolphin) and "P. g. minor" (Indus river dolphin). An assessment of divergence rates in mitochondrial DNA of the two subspecies indicates that they diverged from a common ancestor around 550,000 years ago. This ancestor is thought to have been a marine Platanistid inhabiting the epi-continental seas in South Asia during the sea level rises in the middle Miocene. The earliest fossil identified as belonging to the species is only
Endangered Species Act of 1969 Endangered Species Preservation Act of 1969 was largely an expansion of the Lacey Act of 1900. In 1969, it was amended to protect species beyond game and wild birds. It granted protection to amphibians, reptiles, mollusks, and crustaceans, groups previously unprotected by any U.S. law. It also expanded the maximum punishment for poaching to a possible $10,000 and up to a year of jail time. In addition, it established two lists into which endangered species could be sorted, foreign and domestic. The act then allowed for species on the domestic list to be given extra protection by United States agencies