Which dolphin genus includes the common bottlenose dolphin?

Tursiops is the dolphin genus that includes the common bottlenose dolphin.

The common bottlenose dolphin’s scientific name is Tursiops truncatus. It is a toothed whale in the oceanic-dolphin family Delphinidae and lives in warm and temperate seas around much of the world. Its short beak and rounded forehead helped inspire the familiar common name.

Tursiops is a genus rather than a species name. It also includes the Indo-Pacific bottlenose dolphin, Tursiops aduncus, and Tamanend’s bottlenose dolphin, Tursiops erebennus, whose recognition reflects continuing advances in genetic and ecological research. Some populations once treated as one widespread species have been re-evaluated as distinct species or subspecies.

A common mix-up is choosing Delphinus, Stenella, or Lagenorhynchus. Those are other dolphin genera, not the genus of bottlenose dolphins. The name Tursiops comes from Latinized terminology associated with dolphins, while truncatus refers to the species epithet of the common bottlenose dolphin.