Dolphins are marine mammals closely related to whales and porpoises.

There are a lmost forty species of dolphin in 17 genera. They vary in size from 1.2 m (4 ft) and 40 kg (90 lb) (Maui's dolphin), up to 9.5 m (30 ft) and 10 tonnes (9.8 long tons; 11 short tons) (the orca or killer whale). They are found worldwide, most ly in the shallower seas of the continental shelves and are carnivores, eating m ostly fish and squid. The family Delphinidae, the largest in the Cetacean order, evolved relatively recently, about ten million years ago during the Miocene. Etymology The name is originally from Greek de?f?? (delphs), "dolphin",[1] which was relate d to the Greek de?f?? (delphus), "womb".[2] The animal's name can therefore be i nterpreted as meaning "a 'fish' with a womb".[3] The name was transmitted via th e Latin delphinus[4] (the romanization of the later Greek de?f???? delphinos[5]) , which in Medieval Latin became dolfinus and in Old French daulphin, which rein troduced the ph into the word. The term mereswine (that is, "sea pig") has also historically been used.[6] The term 'dolphin' can be used to refer to, under the suborder odontoceti, all t he species in the family delphinidae (marine dolphins including orcas and pilot whales) and the river dolphin superfamily Platanistoidea, which includes the fam ilies Iniidae (Amazon river dolphin), Lipotidae (Yangtze river dolphin) and Plat anistidae (Ganges river dolphin and Indus river dolphin).[7][8] This term has of ten been misused in the US, mainly in the fishing industry, where all small ceta ceans (dolphins and porpoises) are considered porpoises, while the fish dorado i s called dolphin fish.[9] In common usage the term 'whale' is used only for the larger species under cetaceans,[10] while the smaller ones with a beaked or long er nose are considered 'dolphins'.[11] The name 'dolphin' is used casually as a synonym for bottlenose dolphin, the most common and familiar species of dolphin. [12] Orcas and some closely related species belong to the delphinidae family and therefore qualify as dolphins, though they are called killer whales in common u sage. Though the terms 'dolphin' and 'porpoise' are used interchangeably, porpoi ses are not considered dolphins and have different physical features such as a s horter beak and spade-shaped teeth; they even differ in their behavior. Porpoise s belong to the family Phocoenidae and share a common ancestry with the delphini dae under the suborder odontocetes.[12] A group of dolphins is called a "school" or a "pod". Male dolphins are called "b ulls", females "cows" and young dolphins are called "calves".[13]