Mammals

Question 1

Describe the diversity of mammals and the 3 main types of mammals

Answer 1

Live in every environment
Extremely diverse in form and lifestyle
Monotremes - 5 species, egg laying, platypus and echidnas
Marsupials - 334 species, young are born early and carried in a pouch, ~70% of species live in Australia
Placental - Most diverse ~5000 species, young are born well developed, colonised all environments on Earth

Question 2

Why are certain mammals so well funded in regards to conservation?

Answer 2

Animals such as monkeys, rhinos, pandas and whales get a lot of funding as they are “emotive” creatures. Conservation is led by emotion rather than science - This is important though in that it raises the profile of conservation

Question 3

Describe the primates

Answer 3

Largely diverse group ~300 species
Forward facing eyes on skull (distance perception)
Colour vision
Opposable thumbs
Advanced cognitive abilities - enlarged neocortex
- make and use tools
- complex social groups
- hunting strategies involving co-operation, influence and rank
- manipulative and capable of deception
- can learn to use symbols
- can understand aspects of human language

Question 4

What are the main threats to primates?

Answer 4

Primary cause is deforestation - logging, agriculture, oil palm plantations, mining
Pet trade - middle East and Africa are major exporters
Hunting - bush meat

Question 5

Main points on captive breeding in primates

Answer 5

Number of animals released will be directly correlated to their success in establishing new colonies
Appropriate stock - genetic compatibility to avoid outbreeding depression
Risk of introduction of diseases
Original cause of decline must be addressed before re-introduction
Must be sufficient good quality habitat which is linked to current surviving populations
Cost is estimated to be around $22,000 per individual golden lion tamarin

Question 6

Describe Cetacea diversity

Answer 6

Whales, porpoises and dolphins
More than 80 species
Many are highly endangered - Blue whale 10,000-25,000 indv.
- fin whale 30,000 indv.
- Maui's dolphin 111 indv.
- river dolphin

Question 7

Why are whales so important?

Answer 7

Ecosystem services - “whale pump” - upward biological pump from the depths to the surface
- whale faeces are liquid and stay on the surface, food for phytoplankton and fisheries
- whale carcasses fall to the ocean floor, providing a habitat for marine life
Cultural
Political - huge importance to the environmental movement for galvanising support for environmental issues

Question 8

What threats to Cetacea face?

Answer 8

Whaling
Fishing activities - entanglment, decreased fish stock, bycatch, ship strikes, sonar
Habitat loss - fish farms, harbours, shipping channels
Pollution - old nets, POPs, EDCs, concentration of pollutants
Oil industry
Climate change
Entertainment - overexploitation
Weapons testing

Question 9

Why are rodentia a cause for concern in conservation despite being so highly successful?

Answer 9

~50% of all mammal extinctions are rodents
Important in seed dispersal and habitat alteration (eg. beavers and prairie dogs)
Habitat destruction is the biggest threat to rodents
Golden rumped sengi, Okinawa spiny rat and Red crested tree rat are all at risk of extinction

Question 10

What are the causes of red squirrel decline in the UK?

Answer 10

Food source - Grey squirrels are better at digesting acorns than red squirrels
Disease - Parapoxvirus is carried by grey squirrels but does not affect them, passed to red squirrels it can cause mortality
Reproduction - red squirrels are more sensitive to stress and reproduce less

Question 11

Describe the chiroptera’s main features and their diversity

Answer 11

Body plan - forelimbs form webbed wings, only mammals capable of true flight
Second largest order of mammals ~1240 species
- Flying fox/fruit bats ~60 spp. (feed on nectar, fruit etc, limited to tropical regions, smell and eyesight well developed)
- Echolocating bats ~1200 spp. (feed on insects, blood, fish lizards etc, widely distributed, small eyes, rely on echolocating)
Communicate using a variety of calls, pheromones and scent marks

Question 12

Why are chiroptera important?

Answer 12

Indicator species
Transmission of rabies
Guano
Fruit bats - pollination and seed disperasal, prey for snakes
Echolocating bats - prey and predators, pest control (midges)

Question 13

What are the main threats to chiroptera?

Answer 13

Habitat loss - clearing of vegetation, inappropriate fire regimes, invasion of weeds
Disturbance of roost sites - tourism, mining activities, recreational caving, land clearing
Hunting
Windfarms
Often portrayed negatively

Question 14

Describe the diversity of the Carnivora

Answer 14

Range across a number of orders and occupy every type of terrestrial habitat and many aquatic habitats
281 spp.
- ~122 are on IUCN redlist
- 5 spp. have recently gone extinct - giant fosa, Falklands wolf, Carribean monk seal, sea mink, Japanese sea lion
Includes canidae, felidae, mustelidae, ursidae and pinnipeds

Question 15

Why are carnivora so important?

Answer 15

Top predators
Mesopredators
Pest control
Indicator species
Protecting carnivores allows protection for entire ecosystems
Clothing - fur trade
Political - flagship species

Question 16

What are the main threats to carnivora?

Answer 16

Habitat destruction
Hunting for fur
Hunting for fun - ~600 lions killed per year, 30,000 left in Africa
Hunting to protect livestock
Hunting for food
Hunting for Chinese medicine
Pet trade
Climate change - snow leopards - prey reduction
Inbreeding

Question 17

Describe rhino diversity

Answer 17

Odd toes ungulates such as horses, donkeys, zebras and tapirs
5 species of rhino 
Africa 
- White Rhino ~20,000 indv.
- Black Rhino ~5000 indv.
Asia 
- Sumatran rhino

Question 18

What threats do rhinos face?

Answer 18

Habitat loss - agriculture, development
Hunting
Inbreeding

Question 19

Why should focus be put on conservation of flagship species?

Answer 19

Future generations have a right to experience the same species we have
Every species has the right to exist
Result in the protection of entire ecosystems
Platform to raise the agenda for other environmental issues

Question 20

Why shouldn’t focus be put on the conservation of flagship species?

Answer 20

Individual species may not be essential to the functioning of the entire ecosystem
Small number of individuals lead to inbreeding
More important to focus on saving habitats that contain the highest biodiversity
Vast sums of money that is spent on these species could be diverted to more important issues such as climate change
Species that are the focus of conservation should be chosen on there importance to an ecosystem rather than how they look

Question 21

What are the main features of mammals?

Answer 21

Endotherms
Amniotes
Physiology: hair, three middle ear bones, mammary glands, neocortex
Include the largest animals on the planet
Smallest mammals are the bumblebee bat and the estrucan shrew
Contain the most intelligent animals such as elephants, primates and cetaceans
Show all three major kinds of reproduction found in amniote vertebrates: Oviparity (egg laying), Ovoviparity (embryo retained internally with little maternal support), euviviparity (embryo retained internally with much maternal support)