Talk:Bottlenose Dolphin

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This article has been cited as a source by a media outlet. See the 2004 press source article for details. "Google me: On guard - the surprising watchdog of the oceans" (25 November, 2004). New Zealand Herald. [1].

Bottlenose Dolphin has been listed as a good article under the good-article criteria. If you can improve it further, please do. If it no longer meets these criteria, you can delist it, or ask for a review.

I was suspicious about the Laguna, Brazil claim but I found some fairly direct evidence here: [[2]] (it's in portuguese, but it clearly describes the behaviour indicated and it's from a local tourism source). Sbwoodside 19:24, 22 Sep 2004 (UTC)

I've seen very similar behaviour on a my spaceÁ documentary. It was definitely somewhere in South America, so that helps a little with backing up the claim too. Pcb21| Pete 21:58, 22 Sep 2004 (UTC)

There exist reports in the scientific literature; see this page in the comments for a citation and abstract. -- Wesley R. Elsberry 10:43 28 February 2006 (PDT)

Contents 1 Media reference 2 Capitalisation 3 Requested move 4 Citation for bisexuality 5 Sound production 6 Human/dolphin cooperation 7 Lifespans and citations 8 Bottlenose in fiction 9 Tool use? 10 Retarded notion

[edit] Media reference

You've been referenced!

The internet free encyclopaedia Wikipedia gives a more measured view.

It says that bottlenose dolphins - the type that helped in Northland - are known for their "friendly character and curiosity". [3] - 203.35.154.254 00:16, 26 Nov 2004 (UTC)

Cool! I've returned the favour by using the NZH as our reference for the shark attack story which I believe is worth a mention here. Pcb21| Pete 07:57, 26 Nov 2004 (UTC)

[edit] Capitalisation

Is "Bottlenose Dolphin" a proper noun? Why is it capitalised all through this article? silsor 04:23, Apr 16, 2005 (UTC)

I am not certain; there has been some debate over capitlization of common names of animals. Apparently many in ornithology capitalize avian names (at least field guides do). I personally think it looks silly and is in contrast to every encyclopedia, book, and journal that I've ever seen—at least for mammals. If no one objects I think we should lowercase "Bottlenose Dolphin" and move this article to Bottlenose dolphin. — Knowledge Seeker দ 04:35, 16 Apr 2005 (UTC)

There is ongoing debate as to whether the common name of a species should be capitalized. It's always true for the Bird articles, and other WikiProjects have adopted the usage. Part of the distinction comes when using the term to refer to the species as a whole, as opposed to individual members of the species. Part of the distinction comes from refering to a common characteristic of the animal that also appens to be the name of a species. In this case, there are several species of dolphins with bottlenoses and they can all be called bottlenose dolphins, but only this one species is called the Bottlenose Dolphin. See Wikipedia:WikiProject Birds for the lead arguments for case. The WikiProjects for Primates, Cetaceans, and Cephalopods are also following this format. Others are not. - UtherSRG 05:10, Apr 16, 2005 (UTC)

I think we should leave it as it is. "Bottlenose dolphin" looks weird... It should be called either "bottlenose dolphin", which is impossible, or "Bottlenose Dolphin", which is. --Ihope127

On second thought, "Bottlenose Dolphin" should reference the species of mammal while "Bottlenose dolphin" should be the species of dolphin... and therefore this would simply be a section of the Dolphin article. </twistedthoughts> --Ihope127 1 July 2005 00:16 (UTC)

First of all, please sign your "talk" edits with ~~~~. Second, please read WP:CEPH for information on the capitaliation of cetacean articles. - UtherSRG July 1, 2005 01:11 (UTC)

Sorry; I wasn't logged in. And I'll read that link... --Ihope127 6 July 2005 17:52 (UTC)

It seems to be a topic of discussion that re-errupts every now and again. There is a recent flourish of debate at Wikipedia_talk:WikiProject_Tree_of_Life#Capitalization. There is also a naming convention page at Wikipedia:Naming conventions (fauna), but I suspect not everyone agrees with it. Personally I'm ambivalent. -- Solipsist 6 July 2005 21:33 (UTC)

[edit] Requested move

The requested move from Bottlenose Dolphin to Bottlenose dolphin failed. The discussion is archived here. enochlau (talk) 01:09, 22 December 2005 (UTC)

[edit] Citation for bisexuality

It would be nice to have a citation for

Janet Mann, a professor of biology and psychology at Georgetown University, argues that the common same-sex behavior among male dolphin calves is about bond formation, and benefits the species evolutionarily. She cites studies showing that dolphins later in life as adults are bisexual, and the male bonds forged from homosexuality work for protection as well as locating females to reproduce with.

Male Bottlenose Dolphins have been observed working in pairs to follow and/or restrict the movement of a female for weeks at a time, waiting for her to become sexually receptive. The same pairs have also been observed engaging in intense sexual play with each other.

AxelBoldt 21:51, 24 December 2005 (UTC)

There is a publication listed as "in press" on Mann's home page that looks likely to fit. "Mann, J. In press. Establishing Trust: Sociosexual behaviour and the development of male-male bonds among Indian Ocean bottlenose dolphin calves. In P. Vasey and V. Sommer (Eds.) Homosexual Behaviour in Animals: An Evolutionary Perspective. Cambridge University Press." -- Wesley R. Elsberry 10:55 28 February 2006 (PDT)

[edit] Sound production

The laryngeal hypothesis is dead. Dormer's cineradiographic study of 1979 pretty well excluded it, then the Ridgway et al. 1980 study on intranarial pressure and electromyographic activity provided strong evidence excluding laryngeal production. In 1999, Cranford et al. used intranarial pressure and video endoscopy during an actual biosonar task to show that the tip of the larynx remained closed during sound production and that only interference at the level of the phonic lips actually interrupted sound production. -- Wesley R. Elsberry 10:49 28 February 2006 (PDT)

[edit] Human/dolphin cooperation

The article currently reads, "A unique collaboration has developed in the town of Laguna in south Brazil:"

The "unique" label is wrong. Such cooperative fisheries also exist in Africa, and have been reported through recorded history. --Wesley R. Elsberry 18:26 21 March 2006 (PDT)

Thanks for the report. I see that Axel Boldt has updated the article appropriately. Pcb21 Pete 10:35, 22 March 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Lifespans and citations

There was a claim made that dolphin lifespans in captivity were inexplicably shorter than in the wild. The claim itself came with no citation, and was phrased such that it was far from NPOV. I reverted to an earlier version of the page. If the claim can be supported with reference to the scientific literature, then fine, it should be included. If all that the claim is is an anti-captivity talking point, then it doesn't seem appropriate here. Wesley R. Elsberry 16:54, 29 April 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Bottlenose in fiction

Perhaps it's just me, but is it really needed to include things like the two star trek episodes where they happen to mention dolphins or a simpson episode? Flipper or Ecco the dolphin I can very much understand, but some are much too trivial for the article in my opinion. Besides that, this article is about bottlenose dolphins while in many cases just "dolphins" are mentioned. BabyNuke 12:53, 2 June 2006 (UTC)

I agree, that section grows and grows and contains lots of irrelevant stuff. Maybe chop it down and move it to dolphin? That's probably where most people would look for it anyway. AxelBoldt 21:11, 4 June 2006 (UTC)

I've removed all minor references and/or those from which I can't tell if they're bottlenoses or not (I assume 'Roxanne' from the Zeus and Roxanne movie to be a bottlenose from the poor screencaps I could find, same goes for 'Darwin' from SeaQuest). I don't feel there's any need to move the others to the dolphin article as that list is long enough already. BabyNuke 10:09, 5 June 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Tool use?

Anthropologists generally only consider tool use the modification of natural resources. Simply using an object without changing it in some way doesn't qualify. Therefore, an ape using a rock for a purpose doesn't meet this criteria unless the rock is changed to better suit the purpose. I would think that dolphins wouldn't be any different, but I'm not an expert on the subject. Maybe someone else is. I think it should be looked into since it seems to be a rather bold claim. Tuna027 06:07, 15 June 2006 (UTC)

I think it's ok. It is explained in the article what the dolphins do and if it is or isn't a tool is in the end nitpicking over definitions. Besides, how else to put it? "Object use"? Plus, I quote from the tool article: "Philosophers once thought that only humans used tools, and often defined humans as tool-using animals. But observation has confirmed that monkeys, apes and other animals, mostly primates, but also some birds (ravens, for instance), and sea otters can use tools as well. Later, philosophers thought that only humans had the ability to make tools, until zoologists observed birds[1] and monkeys[2][3][4] making tools." - the way that is written seems to allow for unmodified objects to be seen as tools if used as such. BabyNuke 11:11, 15 June 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Retarded notion

"The salt water makes them hard to see both from above and below when swimming."

Salt does not impart color to water, WTF! —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 70.70.187.76 (talk • contribs) .

Agreed. Changed statement. BabyNuke 17:33, 5 September 2006 (UTC)