whales & dolphins Flashcards
(79 cards)
1
Q
What kingdom are whales and dolphins?
A
animalia
2
Q
What phylum are whales and dolphins?
A
chordata (backbone)
3
Q
What class are whales and dolphins?
A
mamalia
4
Q
What order are whales and dolphins?
A
cetacea
5
Q
What are the two subcategories of Cetacea?
A
mysticeti, odontoceti
6
Q
mysticeti
A
baleen
7
Q
baleen
A
mysticeti
8
Q
odontoceti
A
toothed
9
Q
toothed
A
odontoceti
10
Q
What is the order Cetacea?
A
live, breed, rest, and carry out all of their life functions in the water
11
Q
migration
A
a pattern of behavior in which animals travel from one habitat to another in search of food, better conditions, or reproductive needs
12
Q
a pattern of behavior in which animals travel from one habitat to another in search of food, better conditions, or reproductive needs
A
migration
13
Q
How do cetaceans reduce drag for fast swimming?
A
- fusiform body
- paddle-shaped front limbs
- no external digits or claws
- tail flattened laterally and bearing horizontal flukes at the tip
- vestigial ear pinnae
- hairless body
- thick subcutaneous blubber layer filled with fat and oil
14
Q
What is a fusiform body?
A
tapered at both ends
15
Q
blowhole
A
external nares on top of head
16
Q
external nares on top of head
A
blowhole
17
Q
How many blowholes do Odontoceti have?
A
one
18
Q
How many blowholes do mysticeti have?
A
two
19
Q
What are common behaviors of whales?
A
- breaching
- spy hopping
- lunge feeding
- skim feeding
20
Q
breaching
A
jumping out of the water
21
Q
jumping out of the water
A
breaching
22
Q
spyhopping
A
vertically moving head out of water to view surroundings
23
Q
lunge feeding
A
consuming a large quantity of prey and water after a high speed horizontal or vertical propulsion
24
Q
vertically moving head out of water to view surroundings
A
spyhopping
25
consuming a large quantity of prey and water after a high speed horizontal or vertical propulsion
lunge feeding
26
skim feeding
swimming through prey on surface with mouth open
27
swimming through prey on surface with mouth open
skim feeding
28
mysteceti
most of the largest cetaceans
29
most of the largest cetaceans
mysteceti
30
What is the largest animal in history?
blue whale
31
What is the smallest mysticeti?
pygmy right whale
32
What is baleen?
- filter feeding system found in all the mysticeti whales
- made of keratin
- range in size from 1-11ft long
33
filter feeding system found in all the mysticeti whales
baleen
34
What whale has the longest baleen?
bowhead
35
How do small cetaceans cope with cold climates?
- have high metabolic rates
- flippers and flukes have a counter current heat exchange system
- insulated by thick blubber layer
36
How do small cetaceans have a counter current heat exchange system?
heat from arterial blood warms venous blood as it returns to the heart
37
How do large cetaceans cope with cold climates?
- small surface to volume ration
- lose little heat to the surrounding environment
- insulated by think blubber layer
38
What physiological adaptations do whales have for deep diving?
- rapid exchange in lungs
- after blood distribution
- high tolerance to carbon dioxide and lactic acid build up in tissues
39
How do whales have rapid exchange in the lungs?
- enhanced by double capillary layer in the idntraalveolar septae
- humans use 4% of oxygen inhaled, Cetacea use 12%
- twice the number of erythrocytes and myoglobin molecules in their blood, which allows for efficient capture and transport of oxygen
40
How do whales have after blood distribution?
- rate of flow slows down (bradycardia)
- heart rate slows by as much as 80 beats per minute
- eliminated at non-critical organs via shunts
- reserved for critical tissues
41
What are odontocete?
largest and most diverse group
42
largest and most diverse group
odontocete
43
What is the largest odontocete?
sperm whale reaching 60ft
44
What is the largest living predator of warm-blooded animals?
killer whale
45
What physiologic problems are there with deep diving?
- increased pressure with increased depth
- at high pressure gases go into solution more quickly
- air breathing organisms have a problem with nitrogen gas absorption decompression sickness
46
What structural adaptations do whales have for deep diving?
- lungs are small
- total amount of air you take in is the same as the total amount of air you let out
- dead air spaces are large
- trachea is large and supported by cartilaginous rings
- ribs are free from sternum
47
What mechanisms do whales have for deep diving?
- total exhalation before diving
- diving pressure forces collapse of lungs
- nitrogen is six times more soluble in oils then in water
48
How does the collapse of lungs help with deep diving?
- forces air into dead air spaces, including nasal passages
- dead air spaces devoid of vascular tissue
49
How is the facts that nitrogen is six times more soluble in oils than in water helpful for deep diving?
- blubber is highly vascular and serves as nitrogen reservoir
- oil also present in nasal sinus and may absorb nitrogen there as well
50
How many mating seasons are there?
one
51
How long is the gestation period?
10 to 17 months
52
How many calves do females give birth to and how often?
one every six years
53
How are calves born?
tail first and must swim from the moment of birth
54
How long do mysticetes nurse for?
about six months
55
How long do odontocetes nurse for?
over two years
56
What is the social behavior?
highly sociable within their respective species and often form pods
57
How do pods collaborate?
hunting, playing, traveling, and taking care of young
58
How long do they remain in pods?
usually remain in pods throughout their life
59
How are pods beneficial?
hunting is easier in a group, also pods decrease predation
60
How do they communicate?
- flukes or flippers
- breaching
- spyhopping
- emit various sounds from their heads
61
How do flukes or flippers communicate?
slap the surface
62
How does breaching communicate?
- leaping from the waters surface
- helps them to attain an elevation of several yards
63
How does spy hopping communicate?
raising head out of water to investigate objects or potential prey
64
How does emitting various sounds from their heads communicate?
these sounds and echolocation help them navigate, invest their surroundings, and hunt
65
What sounds do sperm whales emit?
simple clicks
66
What sounds do humpback whales emit?
complex "songs"
67
How many orders of mammals use echolocation?
four orders
68
What orders of mammals use echolocation?
- order Cetacea
- order soricomorphia
- order Carnivora
- order Chiroptera
69
order cetacea
whales, dolphins
70
order sorcimorphia
shrews
71
order carnivora
pinnipeds
72
order chiroptera
bats
73
What is echolocation in cetacean?
- important means of navigation
- very well developed in odontocetes
- very rapid
74
How does very rapid echolocation help cetacean?
size, shape, and distance of the object can be determined
75
What is the anatomy of nasal regions in regards to echolocation?
- ducts and diverticula
- nasal plugs
- air cycled back and forth
76
How do they hear the return echo?
mandible
77
What is the mandible?
small thin bone, that allows the animal to hear through the lower jaw in front
78
How and what do mysticetes eat?
use their baleen to strain plankton and other tiny organisms
79
What do odontocetes eat?
- feed on fish, squid, and crustaceans
- larger species eat aquatic birds and mammals
