Transcript Powerpoint
Marine Mammal Notes
Mammal Characteristics
– warm blooded. Body
temperature regulated internally.
Hair – to retain body heat
Viviparous – live bearing animals.
Embryos develop within the mother’s
body.
Placenta – membrane that connects baby
to mother.
Mammary glands – feed young
with milk
Lungs
4 Chambered heart
Endotherms
Pinniped Characteristics
Examples: Seals, sea-lions and walruses
Pinni – “winged”
Ped – “footed”
Thought to have evolved from cats, dogs and
bears.
Most live in cold regions
Predators that feed mostly on fish and squid
Paddle shaped flippers for swimming but they
need to rest and breed on land.
Pinniped Characteristics, cont’d
Animals
are big – less surface area to
volume.
Males are bulls, females are cows, babies
are pups
Blubber – a thick layer of fat under their
skin
*used as a food reserve
*provides buoyancy
*warmth
Sea lions
5 species
Characteristics
Dog-like faces and they “bark”
Use front (anterior) flippers to swim
Rear flippers can be rotated forward so they can
walk on land.
Graceful, agile swimmers
Related to fur seals
California Sea Lions – do tricks at Sea World –
smart
Seals
19 species
Characteristics
Cat-like faces
Rear flippers (posterior)
cannot be moved forward so
they have a hard time
moving on land
Better swimmers than sea
lions – they can dive deeper
for a longer period of time.
Examples: Harbor seals and
Elephant seals
Elephant seal males can get
up to 20 feet and weight 4
tons.
Comparing Seals and Sea lions
Seals
cannot rotate rear
flippers
Short neck
Swim with rear flippers
Sea lions
Can rotate rear flippers
Long neck
Swim with front flippers
Walrus
Characteristics
Tusks are used for defense and to pull
themselves up on the ice. If one breaks with
more than half remaining, they can regrow.
Tusks are canine teeth.
They live in the Arctic.
Their blubber can weigh up to 900 lbs.
They have inflatable air pouches in their throat
They eat shrimp, snails crabs, clams and
mussels
To swim they use their front and rear flippers.
Whiskers:
Act as feelers to suck up bottom
invertebrates and clams. Full grown species
have approx. 300 stubby whiskers.