Dolphins belong to the family toothed whales and therefore are warmblooded, air-breathing sea mammels.

Existence:

> the different species can be found in the oceans worldwide

Age:

> depending on species c. 35-40 years

Size:

> depending on species c. 1.5 - 4m, with some species getting far bigger (e.g. the killer

    whale up to 8m)

Body

Dolphins are marked by a streamlined body that enables them to perform the fast sswimmin. Except of the right whale dolphin (Lissodelphinae) all dolphins have a dorsal fin that's not used for locomotion but serves as a stabilizer. Furthermore all dolphins have 2 flippers/pectoral fins, which are also used for steering (only there contain bones. Those are similar to the bones we find in human hands), and powerful tail flukes. All fins mainly consist of strong connective tissue, which contains a network of blood vessels. This plays a major roll in thermoregulation.

At the forehaed you can find the melon which play an important roll in echolocation.

Tingue:

The different species differ especially by the different drawing on their bodies. Nonetheless it's similar to all dolphins that the body tingue is a mixture of different shading of grey, with the upper part (also called cape) usually having a darker shading than the belly.

Breathing

As dolphins are breathing air they need to come to surface for breathing.In course of evolution the nostrils therefore developed on the top of their head.

Teeth & food

Dolphins are beasts of prey and have depending on species different amounts of many cone-shaped teeth. These help to hold the smooth prey that usually is swallowed in one piece. The type of prey varies depending on the species with most of them feed on fish, squid and crustaceans. Bigger species, especially the killer whale, even kill other sea mammels.

During one day a dolphin feeds almost 1/3 of it's own body weight.