Gray Dolphin Skull Replica measures 22 inches. Gray Dolphin Skull is museum quality polyurethane cast. Made in USA. Cast of an original California Academy of Sciences specimen. 2-part skull (separate cranium and jaw). Known as Risso’s Gray Dolphin.
The Gray Dolphin is the only species of dolphin in the genus Grampus. It is commonly known as the Monk dolphin among Taiwanese fishermen.
Rissos Gray dolphin has a relatively large anterior body and dorsal fin, while the posterior tapers to a relatively narrow tail.
The bulbous head has a vertical crease in front. Older individuals appear mostly white.
Most individuals have two to seven pairs of teeth, all in the lower jaw.
Gray Dolphins have a relatively large anterior body and dorsal fin, while the posterior tapers to a relatively narrow tail. The bulbous head has a vertical crease in front. Length is typically 10 feet, although specimens may reach 13.12 feet.
Like most dolphins, males are typically slightly larger than females. This species weighs 660 to 1,100 lb., making it the largest species called dolphin.
Linear scars mostly from social interaction eventually cover the bulk of the body; Rissos Gray dolphin or Gray Dolphins tend to be unusually heavily scarred.
Older individuals appear mostly white. Most individuals have two to seven pairs of teeth, all in the lower jaw.
Rissos Gray dolphins are found worldwide in temperate and tropical waters, usually in deeper waters rather, but close to land.
As well as the tropical parts of the Indian, Pacific and Atlantic Oceans, they are also found in the Persian Gulf and Mediterranean and Red Seas.
They range as far north as the Gulf of Alaska and southern Greenland and as far south as Tierra del Fuego.
Their preferred environment is just off the continental shelf on steep banks, with water depths varying from 1,300 to 3,300 ft.
They feed almost exclusively on neritic and oceanic squid and prefer water temperatures at least 50 °F and preferably 59–68 °F. They have been recorded diving to depths of up to 2,000 feet in pursuit of prey.
Gray Dolphins are typically found in groups of between 10 and 30 animals, though they have been reported as solitary individuals, in pairs, or in loose aggregations in the hundreds or thousands. Occasionally, this species associates with other dolphins and whales.
They are a least-concern species that has been categorized by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) as evaluated as not being a focus of species conservation because the specific species is still plentiful in the wild.
