Lecture 24 - Water Mammals Flashcards
What are some of the major adaptations made by tetrapods to adapt to life on land?
ability to walk breathing air amniotic egg/live birth different thermoregulation hearing airborne sounds
What are the problems with returning to the water for tetrapods?
- Buoyancy
- Slow and inefficient
- Can’t breathe
- Lose heat faster
- Won’t be able to smell, see, or hear
- Can’t eat without swallowing sea water
- Pressure (the bends)
How many different times have marine tetrapods colonised the ocean?
30 times throughout history
How is a terrestrial vertebrates Buoyancy a problem underwater?
They are too buoyant
How do dugongs and other marine mammals overcome the issue of being to buoyant?
Dense bones
What advantage does returning to the water bring?
taking advantage of open niches(usually the lack of large species)
How did marine tetrapods make themselves faster and more efficient underwater?
evolution of Hydrodynamic forms. Includes streamlined bodies, flippers rather than hands or wings and the loss or reduction of hindlimbs
How do marine tetrapods prevent heat loss?
Insulating fur, feathers, blubber and Counter-current heat exchange
What are the groups of marine mammals?
Cetaceans - Mysticetes: Baleen whales - Odontocetes: Toothed Whales Pinnipeds - Phocids: True seals - Otariids: Fur seals and sea lions - Odobenids: Walruses
What order are Cetaceans from?
Artiodactyl: Even-toed ungulates
What are Archaeocetes?
Ancient whales
What order are Pinnipeds from?
Carnivora
Can whales smell?
No, the mammalian sense of smell does not work underwater so whales have lost it.
When Transitioning to Life in Water, What Features did Marine Mammals Initially Evolve?
- Initially evolved larger eyes.
- Eye size (and orbit) now varies
- Relied more on their sense of touch (e.g. - whales use sensory organ on their jaw, seals use undulating whiskers to detect fine movement in water)
Why do Marine Mammals Need to Hear in Water?
Ideally to communicate with others (e.g. - mating, finding other members of same species) and to locate prey (hunting).