A
wholphin is a rare fertile hybrid born from mating a bottlenose dolphin (
Tursiops truncatus) (mother), and a false killer whale (
Pseudorca crassidens). Although they have been reported to exist in the wild, the first captive wholphin was born in 1945, where a bottlenose dolphin and a male false killer whale shared a pool.
The wholphin's size, color and shape are intermediate between the parent species. For example, an adult wholphin has 66 teeth - intermediate between a bottlenose (88 teeth) and false killer whale (44 teeth). They are smaller than a false killer whale but are larger than a normal bottlenose.
Normally, when two different, yet similar species mate, such as a female horse and a male donkey forming a mule, the progeny is expec ...
