Latest Toothed whales Stories
April Flowers for redOrbit.com - Your Universe Online Since the time of Aristotle, biologists have struggled to understand the reasons for mass strandings of whales and dolphins on beaches. Contrary to previous assumptions that whales follow each other onto the beach – and almost certain death – on account of familial ties, a new study from Oregon State University and the University of Auckland reveals that many unrelated individuals are present at each event. The findings of this...
Public Library of Science Traveling into uncharted territory in search of food can be a dangerous undertaking, but some bottlenose dolphins may benefit by moving through their habitat with relatives who may be more experienced or knowledgeable. It turns out that leaders in bottlenose dolphin groups in the Florida Keys are more likely to be related to the dolphins that follow them, according to research published March 13 by Jennifer Lewis and colleagues from Florida International...
Lee Rannals for redOrbit.com – Your Universe Online Despite their size, sperm whales have proven themselves to be nothing to fear, as reports come in about a group adopting a handicapped dolphin into their community. Scientists found a group of sperm whales near the Azores Islands, about 900 miles off the coast of Portugal, and an unlikely companion by their side: a dolphin with a spinal deformation. Science Magazine reported two behavioral ecologists from the Leibniz Institute of...
Michael Harper for redOrbit.com – Your Universe Online Perhaps one of the greatest things about science is that there’s still so much left to discover. Though scientists have been studying and cataloguing the world for hundreds of years, there are still creatures and mysteries which continue to elude us. Take, for instance, the spade-toothed whale. According to the Telegraph, scientists weren’t aware of this species of whale until some pieces of bone were discovered on an isolated...
April Flowers for redOrbit.com - Your Universe Online Bolivia's only freshwater mammal - the pink river dolphin - is at risk, and now President Evo Morales has enacted a law aimed at protecting the unique animal. The Bolivian pink dolphin (Inia boliviensis) is similar to river dolphins found in neighboring Brazil, Peru, Columbia and Venezuela. Some scientists consider the two types of Amazon river dolphins as subsets of the same species. They are often actually pink and can weigh 65 to...
TAMPA, Fla., July 25, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- To welcome guests for the 2012 Republican National Convention (RNC), local artists will apply their own style and creativity, painting 50 identical life-sized dolphin sculptures that will be displayed at Pier 60 Park from August 6 to September 4. Sponsored by the Sheraton Sand Key Resort, one of the 50 bottlenose dolphins will be painted by two young artists, Emily Harris, age 16, and Alyssa Neuman, age 18. The art project is sponsored by...
Brett Smith for RedOrbit.com The grisly deaths of two dolphins at a Swiss theme park is shrouded in mystery and accusations as investigators attempt to determine what exactly killed Shadow and Chelmers, two of the park’s biggest aquatic attractions. According to various media reports, the dolphins died five days apart in November of last year while swimming in their tank at Connyland Marine Park in Switzerland. Their deaths occurred shortly after the space next to their tanks was...
Marine biologists have discovered that bottlenose dolphins use whistles to greet other members of their species. The researchers in Scotland said they made recordings of dolphins swimming in St. Andrews Bay in the summers of 2003 and 2004 by using hydrophones. They said when the group of dolphins met up, they swapped whistles that outwardly sounded the same. "The whistle exchange is more of a greeting ceremony that communicates a friendly intention and is perhaps not needed to...
A recent study, published in the Journal of Experimental Biology, finds that pregnant bottlenose dolphins - especially in the later stages - find their swimming speed almost halved and tail movement restricted, Victoria Gill Science reports for BBC Nature. Originally interested in how baby dolphins learned to swim, lead researcher Shawn Noren, from the Institute of Marine Science at the University of California Santa Cruz, was diving with the animals in Hawaii, and filming their behavior,...
Scientists know that the blood and tissues of some deceased beaked whales stranded near naval sonar exercises are riddled with bubbles. It is also well know that human divers can suffer from bubbles-induced decompression sickness, also known as the bends. What researchers know comparatively little about is how living marine mammals handle the compression of lung gas as they dive deep and then resurface. Now, in a study published online in the Proceedings of the Royal Society B, a team that...
Latest Toothed whales Reference Libraries
The Melon-headed Whale (Peponocephala electra; other names are many-toothed blackfish and electra dolphin) is a cetacean of the oceanic dolphin family (Delphinidae). It is closely related to the Pygmy Killer Whale and the Pilot Whales, and collectively these dolphin species are known by the common name blackfish. The Melon-headed Whale is widespread throughout the world's tropical waters, although not often seen by humans on account of its preference for deep water. Taxonomy On account...
The Australian Snubfin Dolphin (Orcaella heinsohni) is a recently recognized species of dolphin first described in 2005. It is closely related to the Irrawaddy Dolphin, and closely looks like it. Until very recently it was thought to be an Irrawaddy dolphin. However, the Australian Snubfin Dolphin is three-colored, while the Irrawaddy dolphin only has two colors on its skin. Also the skull and the fins show minor differences between the two species. The discovery of a new mammal is...
Taxonomy Cuvier first described Risso's Dolphin in 1812. The species' common name is for Mr. Risso who described a specimen to Cuvier on which Cuvier made his first description. Another common name for Risso's Dolphin is the Grampus (also the species genus) - although as a common name was historically used to describe the Orca. Population and distribution It is found worldwide in temperate and tropical waters, usually in deep waters rather than close to land. As well as the tropical...
Fraser's Dolphin (Lagenodelphis hosei) or Sarawak Dolphin is a cetacean in the family Delphinidae found in deep waters in the Pacific Ocean and to a lesser extent in the Indian and Atlantic Oceans. Taxonomy The earliest known interaction between mankind and a Fraser's Dolphin came on a beach in Sarawak, Borneo in 1895. Mr. Charles E. Hose found a skull there and donated it to the British Museum. The scientific specific name is given in his honor. The skull remained unstudied until 1956...
The common dolphin is the name given to up to three species of dolphin making up the genus Delphinus. Prior to the mid-1990s, most taxonomists only recognized one species in this genus, the Common Dolphin Delphinus delphis. Modern cetologists usually recognize two species - the Short-beaked Common Dolphin, which retains the systematic name Delphinus delphis, and the Long-beaked Common Dolphin D. capensis. Differentiating species Despite the historic practice of lumping the entire...
