Dear All, This is the last announcement for the following workshop that will take place on October 11th, a day before the 18th Biennial Conference. CLOSING REGISTRATION DATE IS SEPTEMBER 15TH. *Taxonomical status of the Tursiops in the Indian Ocean* Taxonomic status of the genus Tursiops spp. in eastern African and Australasian waters: The taxonomic status of the genus Tursiops is unresolved and highly controversial. Currently, only two species are recognised world-wide within this genus, the common bottlenose dolphin (T. truncatus) and the Indo-Pacific bottlenose dolphin (T.aduncus) (LeDuc et al 1999). However, LeDuc and colleagues recommended a full taxonomic revision of the sub-family Delphininae. This recommendation was based on their finding that T. aduncus has closer affinities to the genus Stenella (ie. S. coeruleoalba, S. frontalis and S. clymene) as well as to common dolphins Delphinus spp. than to the common bottlenose dolphin T. truncatus. The taxonomic uncertainty has been confirmed in more recent studies. A geographically broad phylogenetic study suggested that aduncus-type dolphins from South Africa may represent a different species from T. truncatus and aduncus-type Chinese dolphins (Natoli et al., 2004). Furthermore, a mtDNA study of bottlenose dolphins southern Australia showed that animals in this area may represent an undescribed taxon (Charlton et al., 2006). This was confirmed in a recent study by Möller et al. (2008) who described a new species of bottlenose dolphin in southern Australia based on multi-gene evidence. In the past, there have been several attempts by various institutions and researchers to form consortia aimed at addressing these question on a world-wide scale. However, these efforts have not been successful presumably because of the large scale at which the projects were aimed at, resulting in difficulties to coordinate such an effort. Yet, the taxonomic uncertainty of the genus Tursiops remains still a pressing question. We therefore propose to start on a smaller scale by addressing these issues in Indian Ocean and adjacent waters, as there is already a wealth of data generated at numerous study sites available, with some of the most interesting findings have been made in these waters. Our proposed workshop will be relevant for all attendees interested in unresolved taxonomic issues in cetaceans, especially since it concerns some of the best studied cetacean species. Furthermore, the increasing availability of behavioural data within the genus Tursiops will make it soon possible to draw direct comparisons between different populations. However, given the taxonomic uncertainty of this species, it is often still not clear whether comparisons are inter- or intrageneric, hence seriously limiting the conclusions that can be drawn from comparative studies. We intend to divide the day in two sections. In the first part (public), researchers will present their latest results. Depending on the number of contributions, we could accommodate for oral presentations and 2 min slots for poster presentations. The second part will be a workshop in which we identify geographic regions for future work, agree on a set of genetic and morphological markers, and identify institutions (laboratories) willing to collaborate. For further information on the Timetable, please contact: michael.kruetzen@aim.uzh.ch or ada.natoli@gmail.com Organizers: Michael Krutzen, Ada Natoli Date: October 11, 2009 Time: 8.30am - 5p.m. (Full day) Location: RM 205A Cost: approx $30 CAN (payment at location)