A dolphin and a fish are not the same.
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A
dolphin is not a fish.
Dolphins
are from an order of mammals
that lived on land millions of years ago. Though they seem like fish,
dolphins share many of the characteristics of other mammals.
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Most dolphins have only one fin
on top of their bodies-some dolphins have none.
Fish, on the other hand, have more than one fin, and some even have
four. The fins at the top are called dorsal fins.
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They do not look the same.
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They do not feel
the same. |
Fish
are covered with thin, hard overlapping scales
that protect their soft bodies. The way the small scales overlap allows
for movement so that the fish can swim.
Dolphins are covered with smooth and delicate skin. They have
a strong sense of touch and like to rub against pebbles close to the
beach or be touched even by humans.
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Both,
fish and dolphins, need oxygen to live.Fish get oxygen from the water
that flows through their gills.
Dolphins come up to the surface of
the water and breathe air through the blowhole.
The blowhole is similar to our nostrils. They have lungs like other
mammals and get the oxygen they need from air.
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They do not breath the same. |
They do not swim the same. |
Dolphins
move through the water very differently from fish. Fish move their
heads from side to side, causing a wavy movement that pushes the fish
through the water.
The dolphin's tail is horizontal. Powerful muscles located in
the back half of its body move the tail up and down in the water,
propelling the dolphin forward.
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Fish
lay eggs, many at once. Most often, when the eggs hatch,
the baby fish are on their own right away.
Dolphin babies are born one at a time, live from the mother dolphin's
body.The baby dolphin drinks milk from its mother just as other mammals
do. The young dolphin stays with the mother for a long time, growing up
and learning how to live on its own.
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They do
not have babies the same way. |