Bottlenose Dolphin

( Tursiops truncatus)

The bottlenose dolphin  is a cute and very loveable animal. Their habitat is anywhere but polar. I guess they don’t like the cold ;). Their Domain is Eukarya, their Kingdom Animalia, and Phylum Chordata. The Brown Pelican’s Class is Mammalia and their Order is  Cetacea. Their Family is Delphinidae. Their Genus is Tursiops and their species is  Tursiops truncatus. They have bilateral symmetry. The Bottlenose Dolphin has gray skin.   Unlike most of the other mammals in its family, it does not get hair, external ears, and hind limbs. They have a long snout with cone shaped teeth and always look content or happy (see why they are so cute). a structural adaptation they provide is their cone shaped teeth.  Their teeth are specially shaped for them to communicate through echolocation. Another adaptation they have is, when they sleep, they turn off only HALF of their brain so they don’t forget to surface for air. one more adaptation that the bottlenose dolphin has is their bones. This adaptation is also structural. It is good for them because it helps them hear everything so they are aware of their surroundings. Some scientists believe that they use this to stun their prey.

picture from animaldiversity.web