Animal Class >>Mammals
Bottlenose dolphins are most common and well known dolphins which inhabits warm and temperate seas. They are grey, varying from dark grey at the top near the dorsal fin to very light grey and almost white or maybe even a pinkish colour at the underside. The elongated upper and lower jaws form the rostrum, which gives the animal the name bottlenose. The real nose, however, is the blowhole on top of its head, and the nasal septum is visible when the blowhole is open. After every 5 to 8 minutes, they needs to rise to the surface to breathe through its blowhole, though it generally breathes more frequently - up to several times per minute. Adults Dolphin range in length from 2 to 4 metres (6 to 13 ft) and in weight from 150 to 650 kilograms (330 to 1430 lb), however, in most parts of the world, the adult's length is about 2.5 m (8 ft) and adult weight ranges from 200 to 300 kg (440 to 660 lb), with males being slightly longer and considerably heavier than females, on average. The size of the dolphin appears to vary considerably with habitat. They eat small fishes and other smaller animals.
Facts about Bottlenose Dolphins
-
Bottlenose dolphins send messages to one another in different ways. They squeak and whistle and use body language-leaping as high as 20 feet (6 meters) in the air, snapping their jaws, slapping their tails on the surface of the water, and even butting heads.
-
Nasal sacs inside the dolphin's head are what make it possible for the dolphins to vocalize. Blowholes located in their heads open and close, allowing the dolphins to breathe. (Being mammals, dolphins have to come to the water's surface to breathe, just like you.)
-
Each individual dolphin seems to have its own "signature whistle," but the sounds we can't hear may be the most important.
-
Dolphins also produce high frequency clicks, which act as a sonar system called echolocation (ek-oh-low-KAY-shun). When the clicking sounds hit an object in the water, like a fish or rock, they bounce off and come back to the dolphin as echoes. Echolocation tells the dolphins the shape, size, speed, distance, and location of the object.
-
Bottlenose dolphins also have a sharp sense of hearing. Scientists believe that the sounds travel through the dolphin's lower jaw to its inner ear and then are transmitted to the brain for analysis.
-
Dolphins can reach 60 km/h (37 mph).
- • Dog
- • Coyote
- • Cat
- • Crow
- • Squirrel
- • Tiger
- • Cheetah
- • Lion
- • Gorilla
- • Orangutan
- • Monkey
- • Brown Bears
- • Polar Bear
- • Panda
- • Elephant
- • Hippopotamus
- • Rhinocerose
- • Giraffe
- • Peafowl
- • Camel
- • Kangaroo
- • Insects
- • Reptiles
- • Fishes
- • Crocodile
- • Penguin
- • Sharks
- • Frog
- • Vampire Bats
- • Birds
- • Chimpanzee
- • Pig
- • Horse
- • Duck
- • Owl
- • Pigeon
- • Snake
