Bottle-Nosed Dolphin

bottlenose dolphin

 or bottle-nosed dolphin

Widely recognized species (Tursiops truncatus) of mammal belonging to the dolphin family, found worldwide in warm and temperate seas. Bottlenose dolphins reach an average length of 8–10 ft (2.5–3 m) and weight of 300–650 lb (135–300 kg). Males are generally larger than females. A familiar performer at marine shows, the species is characterized by a “built-in smile” formed by the curvature of its mouth. It has also become the subject of scientific studies because of its intelligence and its ability to communicate with its kind through sounds and ultrasonic pulses.

---

Bottle-Nosed Dolphin 

(Tursiops truncatus), a mammal from the dolphin family of the order Cetacea. Its body is from 2.5 m to 3.9 m long and weighs up to 280 kg. It is widely distributed (absent in the Arctic and Antarctic waters). In the USSR, it is found in the Black Sea (mainly along the shores of the Crimea). It feeds on demersal fish. In Soviet waters it has been under protection since 1965. The bottle-nosed dolphin is the most common subject on which oceanariums of many nations (including the USSR) conduct experiments to study echolocation, behavior, functional morphology, and so forth. This is explained by this dolphin’s exceptional capacity to be trained, by its peace-loving nature, and by the fact that it is relatively easy to keep.

REFERENCES

Tomilin, A. G. Kitoobraznye. Moscow, 1957. (Zveri SSSR i prilezhashchikh stran, vol. 9.)
Bel’kovich, V. M., S. E. Kleinenberg, and A. V. Iablokov. Nash drug del’fin. Moscow, 1967.
Tomilin, A. G. Del’finy sluzhat cheloveku. Moscow, 1969.