Sea turtles• Air breathing• Ectothermic (cold-

blooded) 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

• 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

Marine mammals

• 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 OtterClass 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 BearsOrder 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