Live in packs or solo: They live in groups of 5-20 called pods.

Roles within community: Dolphins can be gentle or rough, friendly or aggressive towards one another. Fights can occur for establishing or maintaining hierarchy within the group, access to females or other disagreements.

Male or Female led groups: Most pods are made up from female dolphins and their calves and led by the females.

Individuals that make up the group: Pods can be made up of females and their calves, juvenile males and females, or pair-bonded males.

How do they interact with each other: In pods, female dolphins who have bonded with each other swim together to help care for and protect their young.

How often do they mate: They mate mostly every two-three years.

How many mates do they have: Multiple, but they have the ability to create strong, long lasting relationships.

Time of year for mating: Unlike many other animals, dolphins have no true mating season.

Mating rituals: Male bottlenose dolphins form alliances of two-four to keep competitors away from females. When confronted by such an alliance, a female has little choice in who mates with her, and may mate with everyone.

Number of offspring produced at a time: One at a time.

Any unique characteristics of their mating: During courtship, dolphins engage in head-butting and tooth-scratching.

Stages of development: Dolphins birth, young calf stage, adult dolphin stage, pregnant dolphin (if female).

How old before sexual maturity: Between 5-10 for females and 8-13 for males.

Activities and environment of stages: After a gestation period of about 12 months, dolphin calves are born and can nurse from their mothers after just a few hours. During the calf phase, mothers help teach the calf how to swim and feeds them. During adulthood, dolphins live in groups and are incredibly social. They also use multiple hunting techniques to catch prey.

Difference between males and females: Females usually reach sexual maturity faster, males grow to be larger, and males have higher “cliquishness.”