NL·0411Herbarium of the Nature Library
- Name
- Tursiops truncatus
- Family
- Delphinidae
- Native to
- Temperate and tropical oceans worldwide, coastal and offshore
- Habitat
- Coastal waters, Estuaries, Open ocean
Common bottlenose dolphin
Tursiops truncatus
Also calledDelfín mular (Spanish) · Dulfīn (Arabic) · Hando-iruka (Japanese) · Kuānwěn hǎitún 宽吻海豚 (Chinese) · Grand dauphin (French)
A widespread dolphin of warm and temperate seas, one of the most studied animals for intelligence. Each dolphin develops its own signature whistle, which others use to call it, much like a name.
The common bottlenose dolphin or Atlantic bottlenose dolphin is one of three species of bottlenose dolphin in the genus Tursiops. While formerly known simply as the bottlenose dolphin, this term is now applied to the genus Tursiops as a whole. As considerable genetic variation has been described within this species, even between neighboring populations, many experts think additional species may be recognized and split out. Wikipedia
What it can do
- iEcholocates with clicks precise enough to tell objects apart by shape and material
- iiUses a signature whistle as a personal name and copies others' whistles to address them
- iiiRecognises itself in a mirror
- ivSleeps with one brain hemisphere at a time, keeping one eye open
- vSome Florida dolphins herd fish with a ring of stirred-up mud and catch them as they leap out
In the field
Field marks
- aRobust grey dolphin, darker on the back
- bShort, stubby beak and a crease above it
- cTall, curved dorsal fin in mid-back
- dOften bow-rides and leaps
- Voice
- Clicks for echolocation and individual 'signature whistles'
- Not to be confused with
- Indo-Pacific bottlenose dolphin is smaller with a longer beak and often belly spots. Common dolphins have an hourglass pattern on the side.
- Where to see it
- Chanonry Point (Moray Firth) and Cardigan Bay, UK; Sarasota Bay, Florida
- When
- Resident in many coastal areas; Chanonry best on a rising tide in summer
Listen
Looking for field recordings…
Life & habits
- Diet
- Carnivore: fish, squid, crustaceans
- Habitat
- Bays, estuaries, coasts and offshore waters
- Size
- 2–4 m; 150–650 kg
- Lifespan
- 40–60 years
In Laguna, Brazil, bottlenose dolphins drive mullet towards fishermen and give a signal for when to cast their nets, a cooperation passed down through generations of both dolphins and people.
Where it lives
Recorded sightings
—
geo-referenced records in GBIF, from museums, herbaria and field observers.
Native range
Temperate and tropical oceans worldwide, coastal and offshore
Drag the globe to turn it. Dots are where records exist, not a range map; darker means more records.
In the old herbals & bestiaries
Woodcuts and engravings matched from the Source Library’s scanned books by name. Plates marked “relative” show a close kin rather than this exact species. Click a plate to read the page it came from, with translation.
In the stacks
Searching the stacks…
Every page naming Tursiops truncatus in the Biodiversity Heritage Library →
Marginalia
Herodotus tells how a dolphin carried the singer Arion of Lesbos to shore. Pliny the Younger described a dolphin at Hippo (in modern Tunisia) that befriended a boy and let him ride on its back.
Curiosity
Dolphins remember the signature whistles of former companions after more than 20 years apart.
Kinship
Photographs: iNaturalist contributors under the licences shown. Records: GBIF.org. Historical plates: Source Library (CC BY-SA 4.0; originals public domain). Summary text: Nature Library editors and Wikipedia (CC BY-SA). Medicinal and edibility notes are historical and educational, not advice. iNaturalist taxon 41482.