Ch. 20 - Cetacea Flashcards
In cetaceans, periods of this can last 1 hour
Apnea
Cetaceans are insensitive to rises in levels of this gas
CO2
Cetaceans are insensitive to this process that leads to lactic acid buildup
Acidosis
Cetaceans have 2-9x more of this in their muscles compared to terrestrial mammals
Myoglobin
Cetaceans decrease this during dives
Heart rate
Cetaceans’ blood flow bypasses some of these during dives
Muscle masses
In cetaceans, these completely collapse in dives deeper than 100m
Lung alveoli
What percent per breath of oxygen do cetaceans use?
12%
What percent per breath of oxygen do terrestrial mammals use?
4%
In cetaceans, this respiratory system component is short but has a large diameter
Trachea
In cetaceans, these have 2x the red blood cells as in terrestrial mammals
Alveolar capillaries
What are the two suborders of whales?
Toothed and baleen
What two types of invertebrate make up the diets of most toothed whales?
Crustaceans and cephalopods
These are the only toothed whales to hunt warm-blooded vertebrate prey
Killer whales
What are two characteristics of toothed whale swimming style?
Shallow diving and fast swimming
Where is echolocation produced in toothed whales?
Nasally produced
These whales have no dorsal fins or echolocation
Baleen whales
Which are more social, baleen or toothed whales?
Toothed whales
These are vertical keratin plates that filter food
Baleen
What type of feeding strategy do baleen whales employ?
Skim-gulp feeding
What percent of baleen whales’ body length is made up of the head and mouth?
40%
Baleen whales have this adaptation to support their heads
Fused cervical vertebrae
Which have longer rostrums, dolphins or porpoises?
Dolphins
Which are more secretive, dolphins or porpoises?
Porpoises
