common bottlenose dolphin vs Great White Pelican

Tursiops truncatus compared with Pelecanus onocrotalus

Key Differences

• common bottlenose dolphin is Least Concern while Great White Pelican is Not Evaluated.
• common bottlenose dolphin is 30.0x heavier than Great White Pelican.
• common bottlenose dolphin lives longer (45 years vs 30 years).

Taxonomic Classification

Rank	common bottlenose dolphin	Great White Pelican
Kingdom same	Animalia (สัตว์)	Animalia (สัตว์)
Phylum same	Chordata (สัตว์มีแกนสันหลัง)	Chordata (สัตว์มีแกนสันหลัง)
Class	Mammalia (สัตว์เลี้ยงลูกด้วยน้ำนม)	Aves (นก)
Order	Cetacea (Whales & Dolphins)	Pelecaniformes (อันดับนกกระทุง)
Family	Delphinidae (Oceanic Dolphins)	Pelecanidae
Genus	Tursiops (Bottlenose Dolphins)	Pelecanus
Species	Tursiops truncatus	Pelecanus onocrotalus

Evolutionary Relationship

common bottlenose dolphin and Great White Pelican share a common ancestor at the Phylum level: Chordata. (สัตว์มีแกนสันหลัง)

Conservation Status

common bottlenose dolphin

LC — Least Concern

Population: ~600.0K

Trend: Stable →

Great White Pelican

NE — Not Evaluated

Trend: Stable →

Physical Characteristics

Attribute	common bottlenose dolphin	Great White Pelican
Diet	Carnivore	Carnivore
Average Lifespan	45 years	30 years
Average Length	3.0 m	1.6 m
Average Weight	300.0 kg	10.0 kg

Habitat & Geographic Range

common bottlenose dolphin

Habitat

Found across multiple habitat types including tropical and subtropical moist broadleaf forests, tropical and subtropical dry broadleaf forests, and tropical and subtropical grasslands and savannas, among 12 distinct biome types. Populations are also found in montane and highland environments at higher elevations.

Range

Widely distributed across Asia (Taiwan), Europe (6 countries), and South America (Colombia, Ecuador, Venezuela).

Great White Pelican

Habitat

Typically found in diverse ecosystems where prey species are available.

Range

Found across Europe (9 countries).

common bottlenose dolphin

The most studied and recognized dolphin species, bottlenose dolphins inhabit warm and temperate oceans worldwide, from coastal shallows to the open sea. Highly intelligent with large brains relative to body size, they demonstrate self-recognition, complex communication, and social learning. They live in fluid fission-fusion societies and cooperate to herd fish. A keystone indicator species for marine ecosystem health.

Great White Pelican

One of the world's largest pelicans, great white pelicans have wingspans reaching 3.6 meters and inhabit shallow lakes and wetlands across Europe, Africa, and Asia. Social birds breeding in large colonies and foraging cooperatively — groups of pelicans corral fish into shallow water before scooping them in their expandable throat pouches. Their pouches can hold up to 13 liters of water. Listed as Least Concern globally with stable populations.

Shared Countries

Both species can be found in 4 countries:

🇧🇪 Belgium 🇩🇰 Denmark 🇳🇴 Norway 🇸🇪 Sweden