11.13. Tursiop truncatus: Bottlenose Dolphin http://www.ck12.org
11.13 Tursiop truncatus: Bottlenose Dolphin
Common Name
- Bottlenose Dolphin
Description
The bottlenose dolphin’s scientific name isTursiops truncates, which means “dolphin with a cut face.”T. truncates
has a gray top and a white belly.T. truncatesare small cetaceans that have a long snout, a dorsal fin that’s curved
like a sickle, and round, sharp teeth. These dolphins are about 9 feet in length. The dolphin’s life span is about 35
years.T. truncatesweighs about 440-660 lbs.
Since people polluted the ocean, lots of dolphins have died. We sometimes kill dolphins for their blubber. Boats
with propellers can affect their hearing because the propellers are loud, and their hearing is sensitive. The predators
of theT. truncatesare great white sharks, bull sharks, tiger sharks and killer whales.
The complete taxonomic classification is:
- Kingdom: Animalia
- Phylum: Chordata
- Class: Mammalia
- Order: Cetacea
- Family: Delphinidae
- Genus:Tursiops
- Species:T. truncatus