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Animal Themes
Mammals
Oceans

Dolphins

Dolphins
Reading Level
     edHelper's suggested reading level:   grades 4 to 8
     Flesch-Kincaid grade level:   8.78

Vocabulary
     challenging words:    mechanism, trademark, despite, eyesight, worldwide, impressed, social, probably, species, emit, explosive, running, actually, swimmers, midair, pinpoint
     content words:    South America, Pacific Irrawaddy

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Dolphins   
1     Dolphins are probably the smartest animals living underwater. Long impressed by dolphins' abilities to communicate, solve problems, and learn tasks, scientists have placed dolphins' intelligence and primates' on a similar level.
 
2     Dolphins have sleek, streamlined body shapes that make them swift swimmers. If dolphins are just cruising in the ocean, they swim at a steady speed of 3 to 7 miles per hour. If they are in hot pursuit of schools of fish, they can quickly accelerate to reach a top speed of about 25 miles per hour!
 
3     Like whales, dolphins are aquatic mammals. There are 32 different species of dolphins living in oceans worldwide, and 5 in rivers of South America and Asia. Most dolphins have long, beak-like snouts, while a handful of them (such as Risso's dolphins and Pacific Irrawaddy dolphins) do not have this physical trademark. The most celebrated species are bottlenose dolphins, common dolphins, and killer whales that we often see in open waters or aquariums. (Yes, killer whales are actually dolphins!)

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