Ocnquiz12 Flashcards
Give the evolutionary History of Marine animals
Marine animals were all once land animals. Many suggest that these animals returned to the ocean due to the abundance of food
List the characteristics shared by all mammals
Warm blooded they breathe air they have hair they bear live young The females of each species have mammary glands
list the three mammalian (taxonomic) orders
Carnivora
sineria
cetacea
list the three types of animals in order Carnivora.
sea otters, polar bears, and pennipeds
list the three types of pinnipeds
walruses, seals, and sea lions
Where is the sea otter habitat
Kelp beds in the costal water on the eastern north pacific ocean
Explain why sea otters require a high caloric diet?
Because they lack the insulate effects of blubber
Explain why polar bears have hollow hairs
for better insulation
Where is the polar bear habitat
the arctic
to list the two types of animals in order Sirenia.
Manatees and dugongs
Where are the manatee and dugong habitats?
Manatees are concentrated in the costal areas of the tropical atlantic, while dugongs are concentrated in the tropical parts of the indian and western pacific oceans
Give the primary food for sirenians
Shallow water costal grasses
Give two reasons why sirenians are listed as endangered species
Their ecosystem is endangered due to humans, for sirenians live in costal waters where humans commerce, use of recreation, and development, and water disposal, which kills their habitat and food sources
List the characteristics shared by all cetaceans
An elongated skull
blowholes ontop of skulls
very few hairs
a horizontal fin called a fluke that is used for propulsion by vertical movements
Explain how cetaceans’ skin evolved to permit increased swimming speeds.
their outer layer skin is 80 percent water, containing spongey narrow canals which decreases pressure at the skin
How have cetaceans evolved to be able to dive to depths deeper than 2800 m?
cetaceans have evolved to have structures that allow them to use oxygen efficiently, muscular adaptations, and the ability to resist nitrogen narcosis
Contrast the oxygen usage per breath for cetaceans and humans
Cetaceans take about 1 to 3 breathes per minute while humans take 15 breathes per minute
Explain how cetaceans’ muscles evolved to permit deep dives
their muscle tissue is relatively insensitive to high levels of carbon dioxide. their muscles can continue to function through anaerobic respiration when oxygen becomes depleted
Explain how cetaceans evolved to reduce nitrogen absorption in blood during deep dives.
Cetaceans have collapsable rib cages, so the lungs can collapse to remove all air from the alveoli. this prevents blood from absorbing gases, minimizing nitrogen narcosis
List the two cetacean suborders and give and example of each type.
Odontocetti (dolphins, porpoises, killer whales, and sperm whales) and mysticeti (blue whale, finback whale, and humpback whale, grey whale)
Which cetacean is the most vocal
Odontocetti (the sperm whale)
Describe the morphological differences between porpoises and dolphins.
Both exhibit porpoising
porpoises are smaller and have more stout , triangular fins , and blunt teeth
Dolphins are more elongated and streamlined, have longer rostrums, sickle shaped fins, pointy teeth
Give the uses of echolocation by cetaceans
it’s used to determine the distance and location of objects
helps to stun prey
Explain how the increasing number of ships is affection cetaceans
there is growing concern that noise population in the ocean is affecting cetaceans. this noise is unknown to affect behavior and communication
Explain why some scientists think that dolphins are highly intelligent
They can communicate using sounds
Dolphins have been known to save drowning people
Their brains are proportionally bigger than their body
their brains are highly convoluted
