Delphinidae-+Moyer

The Bottlenose Dolphin! ﻿Family: Delphinidae Binomial Name﻿: Turiops truncatus  Bottlenose Dolphins are in the family of Delpinidae. All delphinids are aquatic mammals. They're all related to whales and porpoises. They're found worldwide, and more of them tend to stay in shallow seas of continental shelves. They all use ecolocation to communicate with eachother. They travel in herds or 'pods' of 10 to even 500. They all have betweem 100 and 200 teeth, but some have less. Delphinids mostly eat fish, but also some squid and small crustaceans are in their diet. All can only have one calf at a time. Some examples of Delpinids are the Orca Whale, the Melon-Headed Dolphin, the Black Dolphin, and the Atlantic Spotted Dolphin.

Scientific Classification of the Bottlenose Dolphin:  Kingdom: Animalia  Domain: Chordata  Class: Mammalia  Order: Cetacea  Family: Delphinidae  Genus: Turiops  Species: Turiops truncatus      Bottlenose dolphins move with their pectoral flipper, which is like a human arm. It helps them to swim. Bottlenose dolphins are hunters or predators. They're teeth are roundish and sharp teeth.  They use their tail flukes, the flippers on their tail, to flip fish out of the water and get the stunned prey. They do not chew food. They also strip meat from spiny fishes and rub or shake large fish to break them into smaller pieces. They eat fish, squad, and crustaceans. It takes 5 to 12 years to mature to an adult. They grow between 2 to 3.9 meters long (6.6-12.8 feet) and weigh about 150 to 200 kilograms (331.5-422 pounds). Bottlenose dolphins adapt to their habitat. One adaptation is their swimming. They can reach maximum speeds of 29-35 kilometers per hour (18-22 miles per hour). It helps them to get away from predators. Another adaptation is their respiration. They breathe through a single blow hole on the top of their head. Another adaptation is their diving. They do not need to dive too deep to get food. Bottlenose dolphins reproduce sexually. The baby gestates for 10 to 12 months. A bottlenose dolphin can only have one calf at a time. The calf will stay with it's mother for 3 to 6 years. The differences between males and females is that full-grown males are longer than females and also heavier.



 media type="file" key="dolphin1.wav" align="center" width="300" height="50"

<span style="color: #45e6f7; font-family: Georgia,serif;">Sources: <span style="color: #45e6f7; font-family: Georgia,serif;">seaworld.org  <span style="color: #45e6f7; font-family: Georgia,serif;">zipcodezoo.com/Key/Animalia/Delphinidae_Family.asp