One of the most beloved creatures worldwide is the Bottlenose Dolphin. From its “smiling” face to its ability to learn and seemingly understand our communications, the dolphin is a true icon of everything people love about exotic animals.
Bottlenose Dolphins are fascinating creatures who seem to possess some rather “human-like” traits – making them eternally popular with zoo and marine park visitors.
About the Bottlenose Dolphin
Have you ever wondered how this marine mammal got its name?
It was a biologist in England who first gave the Bottlenose Dolphin (Tursiops truncatus) its common name due to the shape of the short, rounded snout that resembles a bottle of the old-fashioned sort with a curled lip around the top.
Dolphins are found throughout the world in waters both cold and temperate, and both salt and fresh. Their habitats are quite diverse, encompassing deep and shallower water, protected inland waterways and the wide open sea. The largest number of species is located in the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans.
It is generally assumed that dolphins in offshore habitats migrate in response to changing seasons whilst populations in inland waterways stay there year-round.
How Intelligent are Bottlenose Dolphins?
It is not a misconception that dolphins are one the most intelligent species of mammals in the world. Indeed their brain, in relation to the size of their body mass, is quite large.
Measurements of true intelligence are rather subjective. After all, we cannot give dolphins an IQ test. What we can do is perform research that gives a good indication of dolphins’ level of understanding.
What is known right now is that Bottlenose Dolphins are very social creatures and they also seem to be self-aware, that is they recognise themselves when viewing their image in a mirror (unlike dogs who usually think they’ve found a new playmate!).
Dolphins are often trained to perform in marine parks. This is because they can comprehend both human language used to communicate with them as well as sounds that emulate the dolphins’ natural whistles. Studies in captivity have shown 75% accuracy results when dolphins were trained in response to human language questions requiring a “yes” or “no” answer.
This ability to learn an artificial language seems to enforce the concept of their superior intelligence, although there are dissenters to this theory.
No matter your own views on the Bottlenose Dolphin’s intelligence level, it can hardly be disputed that they are lovable, social, unique marine creatures that have long fascinated man.
For more information take a look at the Bottlenose Dolphin Conservation efforts, and the main types of other dolphins.