Common bottlenose dolphin - wikipedia Common bottlenose dolphin This article is about the species of dolphin. For the genus of dolphin, see Bottlenose dolphin. Common bottlenose dolphin Common bottlenose dolphin breaching in the bow wave of a boat Size compared to an average human Conservation status Least Concern ( IUCN 3.1 ) Scientific classification Kingdom : Animalia Phylum : Chordata Class : Mammalia Order : Artiodactyla Infraorder : Cetacea Family : Delphinidae Genus : Tursiops Species : T. truncatus Binomial name Tursiops truncatus ( Montagu, 1821 ) Subspecies T. t. truncatus T. t. gillii T. t. ponticus Common bottlenose dolphin range ( in blue ) Tursiops truncatus, commonly known as the common bottlenose dolphin or the Atlantic bottlenose dolphin ( and in older literature simply as the bottlenose dolphin, a term now applied to the genus ), is the most well - known species from the family Delphinidae. Common bottlenose dolphins are the most familiar dolphins due to the wide exposure they receive in captivity in marine parks and dolphinaria, and in movies and television programs. T. truncatus is the largest species of the beaked dolphins. They inhabit temperate and tropical oceans throughout the world, and are absent only from polar waters. All bottlenose dolphins were previously known as T. truncatus, but recently the genus has been split into three species, T. truncatus, T. aduncus ( Indo - Pacific bottlenose dolphin ) and T. australis ( Burrunan dolphin ). Although T. truncatus has been traditionally called the bottlenose dolphin, many authors have used the name common bottlenose dolphin for this species since two other species of bottlenose dolphins were described. The dolphins inhabit warm and temperate seas worldwide. Considerable genetic variation has been described among members of this species, even between neighboring populations, and so many experts believe multiple species may be included within T. truncatus. Contents 1 Description 2 Behavior 3 Life expectancy 4 Distribution 5 Intelligence 6 Other human interactions 7 Conservation 8 See also 9 References 10 External links Description The common bottlenose dolphin is grey in color and may be between 2 and 4 m ( 6.6 and 13.1 ft ) long, and weighs between 150 and 650 kg ( 330 and 1,430 lb ). Males are generally larger and heavier than females. In most parts of the world, the adult 's length is between 2.5 and 3.5 m ( 8.2 and 11.5 ft ) with weight ranging between 200 and 500 kg ( 440 and 1,100 lb ). Newborn calves are between 0.8 and 1.4 m ( 2 ft 7 in and 4 ft 7 in ) long and weigh between 15 and 30 kg ( 33 and 66 lb ). They can live as long as 40 -- 50 years. Sexual maturity varies by population, and ranges from 5 -- 14 years of age. Dolphins have a short and well - defined snout that looks like an old - fashioned gin bottle, which is the source for their common name. Like all whales and dolphins, though, the snout is not a functional nose ; the nose has instead evolved into the blowhole on the top of their heads. Their necks are more flexible than other dolphins ' due to five of their seven vertebrae not being fused together as is seen in other dolphin species. Behavior K - Dog, trained by the US Navy to find mines and boobytraps underwater, leaping out of the water Common bottlenose dolphins live in groups called pods that typically number about 15 individuals, but group size varies from pairs of dolphins to over 100 or even occasionally over 1000 animals for short periods of time. Their diets consist mainly of eels, squid, shrimp and wide variety of fishes. They do not chew their food, instead swallowing it whole. Dolphin groups often work as a team to harvest schools of fish, though they also hunt individually. Dolphins search for prey primarily using echolocation, which is a form of sonar. They emit clicking sounds and listen for the return echoes to determine the location and shape of nearby items, including potential prey. Dolphins also use sound for communication, including squeaks emitted from the blowhole, whistles emitted from nasal sacs below the blowhole, and sounds emitted through body language, such as leaping from the water and slapping their tails on the water. Their heads contain an oily substance that both acts as an acoustic lens and protects the brain case. Life expectancy Common bottlenose dolphins typically live to be around 25 years old, in captivity they have been known to live to around 50. Distribution Tursiops truncatus can be found in the temperate, subtropical and tropical oceans worldwide. Some bottlenose populations live closer to the shore ( inshore populations ) and others live further out to sea ( offshore populations ). Generally, offshore populations are larger, darker, and have proportionally shorter fins and beaks. Offshore populations can migrate up to 4,200 km ( 2,600 mi ) in a season, but inshore populations tend to move less. However, some inshore populations make long migrations in response to El Niño events. Intelligence Main article : Cetacean intelligence Tursiops truncatus has a bigger brain than humans. Numerous investigations of bottlenose dolphin intelligence include tests of mimicry, use of artificial language, object categorization, and self - recognition. This intelligence has driven considerable interaction with humans. Common bottlenose dolphins are popular in aquarium shows and television programs such as Flipper. They have also been trained for military uses such as locating sea mines or detecting and marking enemy divers, as for example in the U.S. Navy Marine Mammal Program. In some areas, they cooperate with local fishermen by driving fish toward the fishermen and eating the fish that escape the fishermen 's nets. Other human interactions This is `` Biskit '', a three months fetus, removed from its deceased mother during post mortem in 1993 and now on display at the Dolphin Discovery Centre in Bunbury, South West ( Western Australia ) Four dolphins jumping in show. Some interactions with humans are harmful to the dolphins. Dolphin hunting industry exists in multiple countries including Japan, where common bottlenose dolphins are hunted for food annually in the town of Taiji, and the Faroe Islands. Also, dolphins are sometimes killed inadvertently as a bycatch of tuna fishing. Tião was a well - known solitary female bottlenose dolphin that was first spotted in the town of São Sebastião in Brazil around 1994 and frequently allowed humans to interact with her. The dolphin became infamous for killing a swimmer and injuring many others, which later earned her the nickname killer dolphin. Conservation The North Sea, Baltic, Mediterranean and Black Sea populations of the common bottlenose dolphin are listed on Appendix II of the Convention on the Conservation of Migratory Species of Wild Animals ( CMS ) of the Bonn Convention ), since they have an unfavorable conservation status or would benefit significantly from international cooperation organized by tailored agreements. The species is covered by the Agreement on Small Cetaceans of the Baltic, North East Atlantic, Irish and North Seas ( ASCOBANS ), the Agreement on the Conservation of Cetaceans in the Black Sea, Mediterranean Sea and Contiguous Atlantic Area ( ACCOBAMS ), the Memorandum of Understanding for the Conservation of Cetaceans and Their Habitats in the Pacific Islands Region, and the Memorandum of Understanding Concerning the Conservation of the Manatee and Small Cetaceans of Western Africa and Macaronesia. See also Cetaceans portal Marine life portal List of cetacean species Marine biology Unihemispheric slow - wave sleep References ^ Jump up to : Wells, R. ; Scott, M. ( 2002 ). `` Bottlenose Dolphins ''. In Perrin, W. ; Wursig, B. ; Thewissen, J. Encyclopedia of Marine Mammals. Academic Press. pp. 122 -- 127. ISBN 0 - 12 - 551340 - 2. ^ Jump up to : Hammond, P.S. ; Bearzi, G. ; Bjørge, A. ; Forney, K.A. ; Karkzmarski, L. ; Kasuya, T. ; Perrin, W.F. ; Scott, M.D. ; Wang, J.Y. ; Wells, R.S. ; Wilson, B. ( 2012 ). `` Tursiops truncatus ''. IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. IUCN. 2012 : e. T22563A17347397. doi : 10.2305 / IUCN. UK. 2012. RLTS. T22563A17347397. en. Retrieved 24 November 2016. ^ Jump up to : Wilson, D.E. ; Reeder, D.M., eds. ( 2005 ). `` Tursiops truncatus ''. Mammal Species of the World : A Taxonomic and Geographic Reference ( 3rd ed. ). Johns Hopkins University Press. ISBN 978 - 0 - 8018 - 8221 - 0. OCLC 62265494. ^ Jump up to : Leatherwood, S., & Reeves, R. ( 1990 ). The Bottlenose Dolphin. San Diego : Academic Press, Inc., ISBN 0 - 12 - 440280 - 1 ^ Jump up to : Jenkins, J. ( 2009 ) Tursiops truncatus. Animal Diversity Web. ^ Jump up to : Anonymous ( 2002 ). `` Bottlenose Dolphin ''. Seaworld.org. Retrieved January 17, 2009. ^ Jump up to : Klinowska, M. ( 1991 ). Dolphins, Porpoises and Whales of the World : The IUCN Red Data Book. Gland, Switzerland, U.K. : IUCN, ISBN 2880329361 ^ Jump up to : American Cetacean Society Fact Sheet -- Bottlenose Dolphin Archived 2008 - 07 - 25 at the Wayback Machine. ^ Jump up to : Shirihai, H. ; Jarrett, B. ( 2006 ). Whales Dolphins and Other Marine Mammals of the World. Princeton : Princeton Univ. Press. pp. 155 -- 158. ISBN 0 - 691 - 12757 - 3. Jump up ^ Reeves, R. ; Stewart, B. ; Clapham, P. ; Powell, J. ( 2002 ). National Audubon Society Guide to Marine Mammals of the World. New York : A.A. Knopf. pp. 362 -- 365. ISBN 0 - 375 - 41141 - 0. ^ Jump up to : `` Bottlenose Dolphin ( Tursiops truncatus ) - Office of Protected Resources - NOAA Fisheries ''. Retrieved 16 September 2014. Jump up ^ `` Tursiops truncatus, Bottlenose Dolphin ''. MarineBio.org. Retrieved 16 September 2014. Jump up ^ Wells, R.S. ( 2006 ). American Cetacean Society Fact Sheet : Bottlenose Dolphin ( Tursiops truncatus ). Jump up ^ Au, Whitlow ( 1993 ). The Sonar of Dolphins. New York : Springer - Verlag. ISBN 978 - 0 - 387 - 97835 - 2. Jump up ^ Scott, M., & Chivers, S. ( 1990 ). `` Distribution and Herd Structure of Bottlenose Dolphins in the Eastern Tropical Pacific Ocean '', pp. 387 -- 402 in S. Leatherwood, & R. Reeves, The Bottlenose Dolphin, San Diego : Academic Press, Inc., ISBN 0 - 12 - 440280 - 1 Jump up ^ Marino, Lori ; Connor, Richard C. ; Fordyce, R. Ewan ; Herman, Louis M. ; Hof, Patrick R. ; Lefebvre, Louis ; Lusseau, David ; McCowan, Brenda ; et al. ( 2007 ). `` Cetaceans Have Complex Brains for Complex Cognition ''. PLoS Biology. 5 ( 5 ) : e139. doi : 10.1371 / journal. pbio. 0050139. PMC 1868071. PMID 17503965. Jump up ^ Reiss, Diana ; McCowan, Brenda ( September 1993 ). `` Spontaneous Vocal Mimicry and Production by Bottlenose Dolphins ( Tursiops truncatus ) : Evidence for Vocal Learning ''. J Comp Psychol. 107 ( 3 ) : 301 -- 12. doi : 10.1037 / 0735 - 7036.107. 3.301. PMID 8375147. Jump up ^ `` The Dolphin Institute -- Behavioral Mimicry ''. Archived from the original on 2008 - 05 - 11. Retrieved 2008 - 08 - 31. Jump up ^ Herman, L. ( 2002 ). `` Language Learning ''. In Perrin, W. ; Wursig, B. ; Thewissen, J. Encyclopedia of Marine Mammals. Academic Press. pp. 685 -- 689. ISBN 0 - 12 - 551340 - 2. Jump up ^ `` The Dolphin Institute -- Understanding Language ''. dolphin-institute.org. Archived from the original on 2008 - 12 - 11. Jump up ^ `` Intelligence and Humans ''. wiu.edu. Retrieved 2008 - 08 - 11. Jump up ^ Marten, K. ; Psarakos, S. ( 2006 ). `` Evidence of Self - awareness in the Bottlenose Dolphin ( Tursiops truncatus ) ''. In Parker, S.T. ; Mitchell, R. ; Boccia, M. Self - awareness in Animals and Humans : Developmental Perspectives. Cambridge University Press. pp. 361 -- 379. ISBN 0521025915. Archived from the original on 2008 - 10 - 13. Retrieved 2008 - 10 - 04. Jump up ^ `` American Cetacean Society -- Bottlenose Dolphin ''. Archived from the original on 2008 - 07 - 25. Retrieved 2008 - 08 - 31. Jump up ^ `` U.S. Navy Marine Mammal Program Web Site ''. U.S. Navy Marine Mammal Program. Archived from the original on 2009 - 01 - 15. Jump up ^ `` Dolphins Deployed as Undersea Agents in Iraq ''. National Geographic. Retrieved 2009 - 01 - 18. Jump up ^ `` Bottlenose Dolphin ''. Archived from the original on 2008 - 04 - 21. Retrieved 2008 - 08 - 11. Jump up ^ `` Frequently Asked Questions : Save Japan Dolphins Campaign ''. International Marine Mammal Project. 17 February 2016. Retrieved 29 November 2016. Jump up ^ Kenyon, P. ( 2004 - 11 - 08 ). `` Dining with the dolphin hunters ''. BBC News. Retrieved 2008 - 09 - 30. Jump up ^ `` The Dolphin Institute -- Threats to the Bottlenose Dolphin and Other Marine Mammals ''. Archived from the original on 2008 - 12 - 09. Retrieved 2008 - 09 - 30. Jump up ^ `` Appendix II '' of the Convention on the Conservation of Migratory Species of Wild Animals ( CMS ). As amended by the Conference of the Parties to the Bonn Convention in 1985, 1988, 1991, 1994, 1997, 1999, 2002, 2005, 2008, 2011 and 2014. Effective : 8 February 2015. Jump up ^ `` Convention on Migratory Species page on the common bottlenose dolphin ''. Retrieved 16 September 2014. Jump up ^ `` Pacific Cetaceans MoU ''. pacificcetaceans.org. Retrieved 16 September 2014. Jump up ^ `` Western African Aquatic Mammals MoU ''. cms.int. Retrieved 16 September 2014. External links Media related to Common bottlenose dolphin at Wikimedia Commons View the dolphin genome on Ensembl View the turTru2 genome assembly in the UCSC Genome Browser. Extant Cetacea species Kingdom Animalia Phylum Chordata Class Mammalia Infraclass Eutheria Superorder Laurasiatheria Order Cetartiodactyla Suborder Whippomorpha Parvorder Mysticeti ( Baleen whales ) Balaenidae Balaena Bowhead whale ( B. mysticetus ) Eubalaena ( Right whales ) Southern right whale ( E. australis ) North Atlantic right whale ( E. glacialis ) North Pacific right whale ( E. japonica ) Balaenopteridae ( Rorquals ) Balaenoptera Common minke whale ( B. acutorostrata ) Antarctic minke whale ( B. bonaerensis ) Sei whale ( B. borealis ) Bryde 's whale ( B. brydei ) Pygmy Bryde 's whale ( B. edeni ) Blue whale ( B. musculus ) Omura 's whale ( B. omurai ) Fin whale ( B. physalus ) Megaptera Humpback whale ( M. novaeangliae ) Eschrichtiidae Eschrichtius Gray whale ( E. robustus ) Neobalaenidae Caperea Pygmy right whale ( C. marginata ) Parvorder Odontoceti ( Toothed whales ) ( cont. below ) Delphinidae ( Oceanic dolphins ) Cephalorhynchus Commerson 's dolphin ( C. commersonii ) Chilean dolphin ( C. eutropia ) Heaviside 's dolphin ( C. heavisidii ) Hector 's dolphin ( C. hectori ) Delphinus Long - beaked common dolphin ( D. capensis ) Short - beaked common dolphin ( D. delphis ) Feresa Pygmy killer whale ( F. attenuata ) Globicephala ( Pilot whales ) Short - finned pilot whale ( G. macrorhynchus ) Long - finned pilot whale ( G. melas ) Grampus Risso 's dolphin ( G. griseus ) Lagenodelphis Fraser 's dolphin ( L. hosei ) Lagenorhynchus Atlantic white - sided dolphin ( L. acutus ) White - beaked dolphin ( L. albirostris ) Peale 's dolphin ( L. australis ) Hourglass dolphin ( L. cruciger ) Pacific white - sided dolphin ( L. obliquidens ) Dusky dolphin ( L. obscurus ) Lissodelphis ( Right whale dolphins ) Northern right whale dolphin ( L. borealis ) Southern right whale dolphin ( L. peronii ) Orcaella Irrawaddy dolphin ( O. brevirostris ) Australian snubfin dolphin ( O. heinsohni ) Orcinus Killer whale ( O. orca ) Peponocephala Melon - headed whale ( P. electra ) Pseudorca False killer whale ( P. crassidens ) Sotalia Tucuxi ( S. fluviatilis ) Costero ( S. guianensis ) Sousa Indo - Pacific humpbacked dolphin ( S. chinensis ) Atlantic humpback dolphin ( S. teuszii ) Stenella Pantropical spotted dolphin ( S. attenuata ) Clymene dolphin ( S. clymene ) Striped dolphin ( S. coeruleoalba ) Atlantic spotted dolphin ( S. frontalis ) Spinner dolphin ( S. longirostris ) Steno Rough - toothed dolphin ( S. bredanensis ) Tursiops Indo - Pacific bottlenose dolphin ( T. aduncus ) Burrunan dolphin ( T. australis ) Common bottlenose dolphin ( T. truncatus ) Monodontidae Delphinapterus Beluga ( D. leucas ) Monodon Narwhal ( M. monoceros ) Phocoenidae Neophocaena Finless porpoise ( N. phocaeniodes ) Narrow - ridged finless porpoise ( N. asiaorientalis ) Phocoena Spectacled porpoise ( P. dioptrica ) Harbor porpoise ( P. phocoena ) Vaquita ( P. sinus ) Burmeister 's porpoise ( P. spinipinnis ) Phocoenoides Dall 's porpoise ( P. dalli ) Physeteridae Physeter Sperm whale ( P. macrocephalus ) Kogiidae Kogia Pygmy sperm whale ( K. breviceps ) Dwarf sperm whale ( K. simus ) Iniidae Inia Amazon river dolphin ( I. geoffrensis ) Lipotidae Lipotes Baiji ( L. vexillifer ) Platanistidae Platanista Ganges and Indus River dolphin ( P. gangetica ) Pontoporiidae Pontoporia La Plata dolphin ( P. blainvillei ) Ziphiidae ( Beaked whales ) Berardius Arnoux 's beaked whale ( B. arnuxii ) Baird 's beaked whale ( B. bairdii ) Hyperoodon Northern bottlenose whale ( H. ampullatus ) Southern bottlenose whale ( H. planifrons ) Indopacetus Tropical bottlenose whale ( I. pacificus ) Mesoplodon ( Mesoplodont whales ) Sowerby 's beaked whale ( M. bidens ) Andrews ' beaked whale ( M. bowdoini ) Hubbs ' beaked whale ( M. carlhubbsi ) Blainville 's beaked whale ( M. densirostris ) Gervais ' beaked whale ( M. europaeus ) Ginkgo - toothed beaked whale ( M. ginkgodens ) Gray 's beaked whale ( M. grayi ) Hector 's beaked whale ( M. hectori ) Strap - toothed whale ( M. layardii ) True 's beaked whale ( M. mirus ) Perrin 's beaked whale ( M. perrini ) Pygmy beaked whale ( M. peruvianus ) Stejneger 's beaked whale ( M. stejnegeri ) Spade - toothed whale ( M. traversii ) Tasmacetus Shepherd 's beaked whale ( T. sheperdi ) Ziphius Cuvier 's beaked whale ( Z. cavirostris ) Taxon identifiers Wd : Q174199 ADW : Tursiops_truncatus EoL : 129548 Fossilworks : 64472 GBIF : 2440447 iNaturalist : 41482 ITIS : 180426 IUCN : 22563 MSW : 14300099 NCBI : 9739 Species+ : 7086 ARKive : bottlenose - dolphin / tursiops - truncatus WoRMS : 137111 Retrieved from `` https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Common_bottlenose_dolphin&oldid=807944283 '' Categories : IUCN Red List least concern species Tursiops Tool - using mammals Cosmopolitan mammals Pantropical fauna Mammals described in 1821 Hidden categories : Webarchive template wayback links Articles with ' species ' microformats Talk Contents About Wikipedia Wikispecies Afrikaans Bân - 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Question: what is the species of a bottlenose dolphin
Answer: T. truncatus