Content
- Characteristics of aquatic mammals
- Breath of aquatic mammals
- Types of aquatic mammals
- cetacean order
- carnivorous order
- List of examples of aquatic mammals and their names
- cetacean order
- carnivorous order
- Siren order
The origin of all living beings on the planet occurred in the aquatic environment. Throughout evolutionary history, mammals have been changing and adapting to the conditions of the Earth's surface until, several million years ago, some of them returned to submerge in the oceans and rivers, adapting to life under these conditions.
In this PeritoAnimal article, we'll talk about aquatic mammals, better known as marine mammals, as it is in the seas that the largest number of species of this type inhabits. Know the characteristics of these animals and some examples.
Characteristics of aquatic mammals
The life of mammals in water is very different from that of land mammals. In order to survive in this environment, they had to acquire special characteristics during their evolution.
Water is a much denser medium than air and, in addition, offers greater resistance, which is why aquatic mammals have a body extremely hydrodynamic, which allows them to move easily. the development of fins Similar to those of fish represented a significant morphological change, which allowed them to increase speed, direct the swim and communicate.
Water is a medium that absorbs much more heat than air, so aquatic mammals have a thick layer of fat under a tough and robust skin, which keeps them insulated from these heat losses. Furthermore, it serves as protection when they live in very cold areas of the planet. Some marine mammals have fur because they carry out certain vital functions outside the water, such as reproduction.
Marine mammals that, at certain periods of their lives, live at great depths, have developed other organs to be able to live in darkness, such as the sonar. The sense of sight in these ecosystems is useless, as sunlight does not reach this depth.
Like all mammals, these aquatic animals have sweat glands, mammary glands, that produce milk for their young, and gestate the young inside the body.
Breath of aquatic mammals
aquatic mammals need air to breathe. Therefore, they breathe in large amounts of air and keep it inside the lungs for long periods of time. When they dive after breathing, they are able to redirect blood to the brain, heart and skeletal muscles. Your muscles have a high concentration of a protein called myoglobin, capable of accumulating large amounts of oxygen.
In this way, aquatic animals are able to remain for considerable periods of time without breathing. Young and Newborn Puppies they don't have this developed ability, so they will need to breathe more often than the rest of the group.
Types of aquatic mammals
Most species of aquatic mammals live in the marine environment. There are three orders of aquatic mammals: cetacea, carnivora and sirenia.
cetacean order
Within the order of cetaceans, the most representative species are whales, dolphins, sperm whales, killer whales and porpoises. Cetaceans evolved from a species of carnivorous terrestrial ungulate more than 50 million years ago. The Cetacea order is divided into three suborders (one of them extinct):
- archaeoceti: quadrupedal terrestrial animals, ancestors of current cetaceans (already extinct).
- Mysticity: the fin whales. They are toothless carnivorous animals that take in large amounts of water and filter it through the fin, picking up fish that are trapped in it with their tongues.
- odontoceti: This includes dolphins, killer whales, porpoises, and zephyrs. It is a very diverse group, although its main characteristic is the presence of teeth. In this group we can find the pink dolphin (Inia geoffrensis), a species of freshwater aquatic mammal.
carnivorous order
In the carnivorous order, are included the seals, sea lions and walruses, although sea otters and polar bears may also be included. This group of animals appeared about 15 million years ago, and is believed to be closely related to mustelids and bears (bears).
Siren order
The last order, siren, includes dugongs and manatees. These animals evolved from tetiterios, animals very similar to elephants that appeared about 66 million years ago. Dugongs inhabit Australia and manatees Africa and America.
List of examples of aquatic mammals and their names
cetacean order
Mysticity:
- Greenland Whale (Balaena mysticetus)
- Southern Right Whale (Eubalaena Australis)
- Glacial Right Whale (Eubalaena glacialis)
- Pacific Right Whale (Eubalaena japonica)
- Fin Whale (Balaenoptera physalus)
- Sei Whale (Balaenoptera borealis)
- Bryde's Whale (Balaenoptera brydei)
- Tropical Bryde Whale (Balaenoptera edeni)
- Blue Whale (Balaenoptera musculus)
- Minke's Whale (Balaenoptera acutorostrata)
- Antarctic Minke Whale (Balaenoptera bonaerensis)
- Omura Whale (Balaenoptera omurai)
- Humpback Whale (Megaptera novaeangliae)
- Gray Whale (Eschrichtius robustus)
- Pygmy Right Whale (Caperea marginata)
Odontoceti:
- Commerson's Dolphin (Cephalorhynchus commersonii)
- Heaviside's Dolphin (Cephalorhynchus heavisidii)
- Long-billed Common Dolphin (Delphinus capensis)
- Pygmy orca (attenuated beast)
- Long Pectoral Pilot Whale (Globicephala melas)
- Laughing Dolphin (Grampus griseus)
- Phraser Dolphin (Lagenodelphis hosei)
- Atlantic white-sided dolphin (Lagenorhynchus acutus)
- Northern Smooth Dolphin (Lissodelphis borealis)
- Orca (orcinus orca)
- Indopacific humpback dolphin (Sousa chinensis)
- streaked dolphin (stenella coeruleoalba)
- Bottlenose Dolphin (Tursiops truncatus)
- Pink dolphin (Inia geoffrensis)
- Baiji (vexillifer lipos)
- Porpoise (Pontoporia Blainvillei)
- Beluga (Delphinapterus leucas)
- Narwhal (Monodon monoceros)
carnivorous order
- Mediterranean Monk Seal (monachus monachus)
- Northern Elephant Seal (Mirounga angustirostris)
- Leopard Seal (Hydrurga leptonyx)
- Common Seal (Vitulina Phoca)
- Australian fur seal (Arctocephalus pusillus)
- Guadalupe fur seal (arctophoca philippii townsendi)
- Steller's Sea Lion (jubatus eumetopias)
- California Sea Lion (Zalophus californianus)
- Sea otter (Enhydra lutris)
- Polar Bear (Ursus Maritimus)
Siren order
- Dugong (dugong dugon)
- Manatee (Trichechus manatus)
- Amazonian manatee (Trichechus inungui)
- African manatee (Trichechus senegalensis)
If you want to read more articles similar to Aquatic Mammals - Characteristics and Examples, we recommend that you enter our Curiosities section of the animal world.