BottleNose Dolphins
The scientific name of the bottlenose dolphin is Tursiops truncatus. They are from tropical oceans and other warm waters from all around the globe. The domain is eukaryote, the kingdom is animalia, the phylum is chordata, and the class is mammalia. The order is cetacea, the family is delphinidae, the genus is Tursiops, and the species is tractatus. They are bilateral organisms which means that both sides of their body is identical. Bottlenose dolphins can grow 10-14 feet, weigh up to 1,100 lbs, and they are gray on their dorsal side and pale white on their ventral side. The first adaptation is a behavioral adaptation and says that these dolphins can hold their breathe over 10 minutes. A structural adaptation is that bottlenose dolphins are gray on their dorsal side and white on their ventral side which is called countershading and allows them to not be seen by predators. Another structural adaptation is that bottlenose dolphins have a swindle shaped body that helps them swim fast. Some can even swim up to 20 mph for a short period of time to get away from predators. These amazing mammals can breach up to 16 feet out of the water and land on their back or side. They feed on fish, mollusks, and aquatic crustaceans, so this makes them heterotrophic organisms. The predators of the bottlenose dolphin are rays and certain sharks like the tiger shark, the bull shark, and the dusky shark. Dolphins are endothermic or warm blooded which means that they can regulate their own body temperature and their temperature stays the same unless they are unhealthy. Two sources that I used for research are http://www.farallones.org/e_newsletter/2006-08/bottlenosedolphin.htm and Bottlenose Dolphin - National Geographic. By Hannah Pierce
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