Genetic and morphological data suggest a southeast Australian type locality for Tursiops cymodoce (Gray, 1846) Marine Mammal Science

The increase in ocean-going scientific expeditions at the end of the 1800s provided an opportunity to increase the sightings and acquisition of cetacean specimens for museum collections, leading to a boom in the description of new species. As recently highlighted in an extensive review of the nominal species of small cetaceans (Jefferson, 2021), many of these species' descriptions were based on single specimens and did not take into consideration geographic variation. Further, some were named based solely on field observations (i.e., without a specimen in hand) or without identification of the geographic area of origin, and therefore were not recognized as valid species. Due to this potential inaccuracy in details provided during the original descriptions of some nominal species, nomenclatural confusion can be a significant issue in taxonomic endeavors.