Sea turtles
• Air breathing
• Ectothermic (coldblooded)
poikilotherms
– Metabolism fluctuates
with the environment
temp.
• Return to land for
reproduction
• Scaled carapace
fused to backbone
• Not very diverse
– 7 species
• Green
– herbivores
• Hawksbill
– feed on encrusting
organisms
• Leatherbacks
– Largest (upto 2 m)
– Feed on jellies
– Warm, tropical waters
• Long migrations (e.g. 2200 km)
• Vulnerable (see pg. 180)
– E.g. products, food, by-catch
Sea snakes
• Tropical Indian &
Pacific oceans
• Laterally compressed
– E.g. Yellow-bellied sea
snake (Puerto Vallarta, Mex;
Costa Rica)
• Protective scales like
terrestrial snakes
• Very venomous
Marine lizards
• Marine iguana
–
–
–
–
Galapagos Islands
Laterally compressed tail
Herbivore
Salt excreting glands
around eyes (like many
marine reptiles)
• Saltwater crocodile
–
–
–
–
Coastal & estuaries
Narrow snout
Aggressive carnivores
Farmed for skins
Birds: seabirds & shorebirds
• Homeothermic endotherms
• Adaptations for flight & sea life
– Pneumatized bone (dense
skull)
– Waterproof feathers
– Webbed feet
• High metabolisms
– Lots of food (fish & inverts)
• Diverse morphologies and
environments
• Breed on land, typically
monogamous pairs
• Pelicans
– Plunge, fill pouch with
fish
• Cormorants
– Great divers,
swimmers
– oily feathers; yet not
entirely waterproof
• Frigate birds
– Long distance fliers
• Not very oily feathers
– Surface feeders
Gulls, terns, & shorebirds
• Gulls
– Predators, scavengers
• Terns
– Surface fliers/plungers
– Favor nesting sites
• Shorebirds
–
–
–
–
Lack web feet
diverse bills
Estuaries & coastal
E.g: plover, curlew, oyster
catcher
Penguins
• Flightless; advanced
swimming
• Denser bones
• Subcutaneous fat
• Antarctica mostly
• Eat krill, fish, squid
• Monogamous pairs
– Emperors: Lay a
single egg in winter
• Male incubates on top
of feet (64 days)
• Female collects food
Class Mammalia
Marine mammals
• Brain sizes are larger per
pound of body weight than
most other animals'
• Mammals have more efficient
control over their body
temperatures than do birds
• Hair provides insulation
• Mammary glands provide milk
to nourish the young
• Teeth are specialized for
cutting, shearing or grinding;
thick enamel helps prevent
teeth from wearing out
• Well developed in comparison
to other vertebrates
– Branched from 5 ancestral
land mammals
• Oils, fat layers, blubber
• Viviparous; placental
• Very diverse feeding strategies
and adaptations
–
–
–
–
Piscivores
Indiscriminate carnivores
Herbivores
Filter feeders
• baleen
Order Pinnipedia
• Shared terrestrial Carnivora
ancestor
• Blubber
– Insulates, buoyancy, stored
energy
• Breed on land
• Seals
– Streamlined body, rear flippers
good for swimming
• Sea lions
– Flippers support body on land
and for swimming
– External ears
• Walrus
– Feed on bottom inverts
– Deep divers
– Tusks for defense and
anchoring (arctic ice)
Sea Otter
Class Mammalia,
Order Carnivora,
Family Musetlidae (river
otters, skunks, weasels)
• Smallest marine mammal
• Shallow coastal water
• No blubber; two layers of
fur
• Front limbs for prey
capture and manipulation
• Feed on benthic inverts
– Typically bring to surface
Polar Bears
Order Carnivora,
Suborder Caniformia,
Family Ursidae (bears)
• Semiaquatic
– Good swimmers, travel miles on arctic ice, ice
dens
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
huge feet with heavy fur
Tremendous claws
White fur for camouflage.
Black skin for absorbing heat.
Hollow hair for reradiating and collecting heat.
Blubber for energy storage and protection
from the cold.
Incredible sense of smell
– locating food
– locating each other for mating (pheromones)
• need to be able to come together in the vastness
of the Arctic.
Manatees & Dugongs
Order Sirenia
Family Dugongidae (dugong
and sea cow)
Dugong dugon (dugong)
Hydrodamalis gigas (Stellar's
sea cow)
Family Trichechidae
(manatees)
• Elephant-like ancestor
–
–
–
–
–
Herbivorous; teeth
Bone structure
Thick skin
Nasal morphology
Pectoral mammaries
Whales
• Order Cetacea
– Whales, dolphins,
porpoises
– Horizontal flukes
– Top blowhole
– Spend entire life in water
– Toothed whales
• Carnivorous
• Includes dolphins &
porpoises
– Toothless whales
Baleen whales
• Filter feed with baleen
plates (keratin)
• Two blowhole openings
•
Surface feeders
– Right and
Bowhead
•
Rorquals
– Expandable
throat to
gulp large
amounts of
fish and krill
Toothed whales
• Sperm whales
• Orcas
• Dolphins
– Beaked typically
• Porpoises
– No or less beak