It also explains other characteristics such as their need to obtain air and being warm-blooded animals.ĭolphins move by arching their backs and moving their flukes vertically up and down in order to generate momentum in the water and propel themselves forward.Īt top speeds some dolphins have been recorded traveling as fast as 30 miles per hour. In fact the earliest ancestors of dolphins did walk, hunt and survive on land, which explains why the dolphins vertebrae resembles that of an animal designed for walking and running rather than swimming. In regards to the physical characteristics that make cetaceans such as dolphins move differently from other fish and other aquatic species is the way that their bones are designed, which can be observed by watching the way they move through the water. The baleen whale suborder however is made up exclusively of large whales that possess baleen plates with bristles.
They also share other physical characteristics with land mammals that affect the way they move, which we’ll explain shortly.ĭolphins belong to the cetacean family, which is composed of around 80 – 90 different species of marine mammals.Īs a whole the cetacean species is made up of all species of whale, dolphin and porpoise and broken down into two suborders known as toothed whales and baleen whales depending on their physical characteristics.Īll species of dolphin and porpoise are part of the toothed whale suborder due to the fact that they possess teeth instead of baleen. Dolphins are marine mammals and share many characteristics with land mammals such as breathing air, giving birth, being-warm blooded and producing milk.
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