Meet one of the braniest mammals of the sea! (Tursiops)

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Greetings everybody, 
Its that time of the week again but then this isn't just any week it is Brain awareness week! And for this species of the week we chose to do it on one of the most intelligent aquatic mammals in the sea! The Bottlenose dolphin. When researching for this week species of the week we were surprised to find that bottlenose dolphins are divided into three distinct  subspecies of the genus Tursiops.


1. The common bottlenose dolphin (it is thought that this species can be further subdivided into the Black Sea dolphin, and the Pacific and Atlantic dolphins) 

  2. The Indo-Pacific bottlenose dolphin.


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3. The Barrunan dolphin:
 

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Conservation status: Registered as Data deficient on the IUCN Red List.

Habitat: The common dolphin is often found in both temperate and tropical waters around the world. The Indo-Pacific bottlenose dolphin is found in waters surrounding India, northern Australia, South China and the Red Sea. The Burrunan dolphin is found in the waters bordering Australia

Length:  Range from 6ft-12.5ft, with males being slightly larger than females.

Characteristics: Bottlenose dolphins,  tend to have coloration ranging from light gray to black with lighter coloration on the belly, and have robust bodies with short thick beaks. The bottlenose dolphins are further subdivided into two main ecotypes. Offshore bottlenose dolphins and inshore bottlenose dolphins.  Inshore bottlenose dolphins tend to be smaller and lighter in color compared to their offshore counterparts. 
A key difference between the common dolphin and the Indo-Pacific bottlenose dolphin is that on its underside can see the faint marks of spots on its belly.
Bottlenose dolphins have been found to have a lifespan of 40-45 years for males and up to 50 years for females. 
If you had the amazing opportunity to see either of the two species of bottlenose in the wild you would often see them in a pod ranging from 2-15 individuals. Whereas offshore pods tend to be found in greater numbers. In terms of dietary characteristics bottlenose dolphins are labelled as being generalists meaning that they are not limited to one type of prey as apposed to being specialized in just hunting one type of prey. 

Well that was species of the week guys. We hope you enjoyed learning something new about bottlenose dolphins today, we know that we did. Be sure to check out if you haven't already our post on the marine conservation workshop that we attended earlier last month! 

And for more species of the week check out some of our previous ones: 


Biobunch.
Over and out. 

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