Bottlenose dolphin

The bottlenose dolphin is the most common and widespread in the Mediterranean Sea. Together with similar species, such as the common and striped dolphins, it is an extraordinary example of convergent evolution: the structure of his body is exceptionally well adapted to movement in the water, faithfully echoing the shape of a fish. The belonging of dolphins to mammals, however, is revealed by several features, such as the need to breathe air, a placental reproduction followed by lactation of pups and the horizontal orientation of the tail fin, with its related vertical boost movement, instead of lateral as is typical in fishes.