I love dolphins. It is so great that they are aquatic mammals that live in so many places.
Plus they're really friendly! How do they communicate with each other?
Dolphins communicate with clicks. They belong to the Cetacea family.
That's amazing! What is echolocation?
It is the use of a biological sonar by several kinds of animals.
Do dolphins use echolocation?
Yes. Some mammals and a few birds use echolocation, including dolphins, whales, even bats.
Do dolphins have families?
Dolphin
Dolphin is a common name of aquatic mammals within the infraorder Cetacea. The term dolphin usually refers to the extant families Delphinidae (the oceanic dolphins), Platanistidae (the Indian river dolphins), Iniidae (the New World river dolphins), and Pontoporiidae (the brackish dolphins), and the extinct Lipotidae (baiji or Chinese river dolphin). There are 40 extant species named as dolphins.
Dolphins range in size from the long and Maui's dolphin to the and killer whale. Several species exhibit sexual dimorphism
Marine mammals use vocalisations in many different ways. Dolphins communicate via clicks and whistles, and whales use low frequency moans or pulse signals. Each signal varies in terms of frequency and different signals are used to communicate different aspects. In dolphins, echolocation is used in order to detect and characterize objects and whistles are used in sociable herds as identification and communication devices.
See also.
- Audiology
- Audiometry
- The Mosquito
- Seismic communication
- Minimum audibility curve
- Musical acoustics