Talk:Bottlenose Dolphin

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Good article Bottlenose Dolphin was one of the Natural sciences good articles, but it has been removed from the list. There are suggestions below for improving the article to meet the good article criteria. Once these issues have been addressed, the article can be renominated. Editors may also seek a reassessment of the decision if they believe there was a mistake.
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75.68.252.96 23:58, 23 May 2007 (UTC) I'm not at all sure that the bottlenose is the most common dolphin species (I won't argue that it is the best known, since so many of them appear in aquariums and in popular culture). Please cite any figures you can find on the "most common" claim. From what little information I can find (all sources list dolphins as very hard to count), the Common Dolphin is substantially more common. I was suspicious about the Laguna, Brazil claim but I found some fairly direct evidence here: [[1]] (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

[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". [2] - 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)

[edit] new category

I think the articles for the bottlenose dolphin and other marine mammals should be added to the existing category "Hairless Mammals," but I wanted to hear input from others instead of just going ahead and making the additions. Does anybody agree? Phoenix Flower 22:53, 7 January 2007 (UTC)

[edit] dolphins

may you make a clip about dolphins please. —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 72.82.38.245 (talk) 00:31, 14 February 2007 (UTC). the bottle nose is named for it'snarrow snout wich is lined with small teeth shaped for catching and holding fish.


[edit] cognition research

In the article you mentioned that there was an experiment done where dolphins chose the panel with the greater number of dots. There has also been a published study with dolphins choosing the panel with the lower number of dots which is a more difficult concept. This study also corrected the panels for surface area so that they could ensure that the dolphin was not choosing the board with less white space, but with the actual lesser number of dots. The article is: Understanding of the Concept of Numerically "Less" by Bottlenose Dolphins (Tursiops truncatus). Journal of Comparative Psychology. Vol. 119, No. 3, pages 296-303. It can be found on the web at: http://ib.berkeley.edu/courses/ib204/Jaakkola_et_al_2005.pdfNealie21 19:12, 8 March 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Reference link

There's a missing reference for the dolphin recently found with four flippers. Here is an article for the source: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/11/04/AR2006110401230.html For some reason I can't start new discussions OR edit the references, so if someone could add it in for me, that would be great. -_- Milk.hermit 19:20, 29 May 2007 (UTC)

[edit] non consensual sex?

the dolphin article says that male bottle noses sometimes commit non-consensual sex. Is this true? There's no mention of it here, and in the source on the dolphin page, it is not mentionned either. It either needs to be added here with a decent source, or taken out from dolphin. Capuchin 12:19, 24 July 2007 (UTC)

This video good enough? Watch the last part. BabyNuke 19:02, 25 July 2007 (UTC)

[edit] behavior

The first sentence of the behavior section needs a little bit of work. I'm not an expert on dolphins, so I don't feel I can contribute here, but I thought I'd point it out.

24.68.238.82 (talk) 20:52, 20 February 2008 (UTC)

I reordered and properly referenced the first paragraph of the section. Additionally, I have created a new heading titled Respiration and Sleep as the paragraph did not belong under Behavior. Ecirphr (talk) 16:40, 14 March 2008 (UTC)

[edit] "fish whacking"

Sometimes dolphins will employ "fish whacking" whereby a fish is stunned (and sometimes thrown out of the water) with the fluke to make catching and eating the fish easier.

Hard to know if this is true or is somebody's notion of a joke. Could a reference be given? Wanderer57 (talk) 19:16, 11 March 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Capitalization

We have several capitalization choices in naming this creature. I started editing to reflect my initial reaction ("bottlenose dolphin"), but I gave up because I'm not so sure, and the article is all over the map on this one.

A particular breed of dog would be capitalized, such as a "Great Dane," but it wouldn't be a "Great Dane Dog;" rather either a "Great Dane" or [rarely] a "Great Dane dog." (More common would be a "Great Dane pup" and not a Pup.) A Holstein is a "cow," not a "Cow," and a Siamese is a cat, not a Cat.

So what do we call it?

  • Bottlenose dolphin (this seems correct to me)
  • Bottlenose (this seems equally correct)
  • bottlenose dolphin (this could be correct, especially since there are several types of them)
  • bottlenose (and therefore this could be correct)
  • Bottlenose Dolphin (this seems wrong)

I realize I haven't cleared this up much, with 5 choices and only one listed as seeming wrong...any thoughts? Isaacsf (talk) 04:10, 14 March 2008 (UTC)

The standard for Wikipedia:WikiProject Cetaceans is to use Bottlenose Dolphin. Please see the project page for the rationale. - UtherSRG (talk) 11:06, 14 March 2008 (UTC)
Thanks for the link. Not to stir up trouble, but I infer from that link that "Bottlenose dolphin" would be correct:
"The name of a group of species is not capitalised; birds, thrush family, kingfishers, turtle doves, marsh harriers." (see Wikipedia:WikiProject Birds.)
I think "dolphin" would fall into that category, i.e. whale, dolphin, porpoise rather than capitalized. Isaacsf (talk) 12:24, 14 March 2008 (UTC)

[edit] GA Sweeps

This article has been reviewed as part of Wikipedia:WikiProject Good articles/Project quality task force in an effort to ensure all listed Good articles continue to meet the Good article criteria. In reviewing the article, I have found there are some issues that may need to be addressed.

  • various {{fact}} tags should be taken care of.
  • I'd like some additional cites under Reproduction
  • the large cite banner under Cognition alerts everyone to a problem - please add at least two cites, then remove the banner
  • I'd recommend integrating the trivia section and/or re-write it in paragraph form to make it less messy and list-like.

I will check back in no less than seven days. If progress is being made and issues are being addressed, the article will remain listed as a Good article. Otherwise, it may be delisted (such a decision may be challenged through WP:GAR). If improved after it has been delisted, it may be nominated at WP:GAN. Feel free to drop a message on my talk page if you have any questions, and many thanks for all the hard work that has gone into this article thus far. Regards, Corvus coronoides talk 14:17, 17 April 2008 (UTC)

And the lead is far too short. Delisting. Richard001 (talk) 06:57, 10 May 2008 (UTC)