Marine Mammal Quiz

Mammal Quiz

Order Cetacea

        -Whales, Dolphins, and Porpoises

        -Convergent evolution

            -Cetaceans look like fish but did not evolve from them

            -The cetaceans were land mammals. That is why they have lungs

            -The cetaceans have four limbs as embryos

            -Cetaceans rear flipper is horizontal and fish have vertical rear flippers

            -Unlike most mammals the cetacean nostril is not in the front of the face but on their back

                -Blow Hole

                -The cetaceans are mammals that never need to come on land

                -The blow hole helps them to breath with very little breach of the surface

            Baleen Whales (Toothless Whales)

                -Instead of teeth baleen whales have fibrous plates called baleen

                -Baleen is made of keratin just like hair or nails

                -Water is taken into the mouth and then pushed back out through the baleen

                    -The baleen filters the water out but leaves the organic matter inside

                    -The whale then swallows the organic matter

                    -Most baleen whales eat krill

                -Baleen whales are the largest animals in the world

                    -A blue whale can be between 80 and 100ft

                    -One of the largest animals to ever live

        Toothed Whales

            -These include all the other cetacceans, including dolphins

            -Because they have teeth they eat fish and squid

            -The largest is the sperm whale

            -The sperm whale was one of the most hunted

                -Its head is full of whale oil which was used for burning lamps

            -Sperm whales eat a lot of squid and undigested squid beaks and debris accumulate in their gut

                -The then throw up large globs of it called ambergis

                    -Ambergis is an ingredient in expensive perfume

            -A very popular toothed whale is the killer whale called an Orca

        Porpoise Vs Dolphin

            -A Porpoise is a small short nosed whale

            -A Dolphin can be identified by its long nose called a beak

            -Cetaceans, especially dolphins use echolocation

        Sea mammals also have other adaptations for living in the ocean with lungs

            -Marine mammals have myoglobin. Land mammals use hemoglobin to transport oxygen through their body

            -Marine mammals like dolphins use myoglobin because it can not only transport oxygen but it can store it

            -Marine mammals like the sperm whale can hold their breath for hours

            -Another marine mammal adaptation is while diving their heart only sends blood to vital organs and selectively ignores others