BIO 358 1st Edition Lecture 4 Outline of Last Lecture II Odobenidae Walrus III Mustelidae Otters IV A Sea Otter B Marine Otter V Ursidae Polar Bear VI Order Sirena A Manatee B Dugong VII Beginning of Cetaceans Outline of Current Lecture I Characteristics of Order Cetacea II Classification III Suborder Mysteceti A Balaenidae B Balaenopteridae C Eschrichtiidae D Neobalaenidae II Suborder Odontoceti A Physteridae B Kogiidae C Ziphiidae D Monodontidae E Delphinidae F Phoconenidae G Platanistidae H Iniidae I Lipotidae J Pontoporiidae Current Lecture Order Cetacea These notes represent a detailed interpretation of the professor s lecture GradeBuddy is best used as a supplement to your own notes not as a substitute Characteristics Large body size Very stream lined loss of hinds limbs and modified pectorals Almost hairless hair on rostrum as sensory structure on young animals Telescoping of skull o Nostrils on top of head o Jaws elongated in the front Tail Flukes propultion Many have dorsal fins Almost exclusively carnivores some eat phytoplankton by accident Classification 3 groups but only 2 evolutionary valid suborders archaeocetes extinct whales mysticeti baleen whales mystii moustache baleen ceti whale o baleen keratinized plates hanging from upper jaw Odontoceti toothed whale o Dolphins porpoises Suborder Mysteciceti 4 families each has a different feeding strategy Balanidae right and bowhead whales Skim feeders Dorsally bowed head premaxilla dn maxilla bones hold baleen Highly endangered o Hunted for blubber for oil o Baleen for plastic North Atlantic right whale Eubalaena glacialis o Large whale from the north o The right whale to hunt o Coastal distribution o Slow big while providing blubber and baleen o Floated when killed o Callosities used for identification o Most endangered baleen whale in atlantic ocean 500 individuals Balaenopteridae rorquals Gulp feeders rorqual furrowed for ventral grove blubber which permits for their oral cavity to expand when it is full of water Blue whale balaenoptera musculus o Largest living animal o Cosmopolitan o Endangered o Identified by pigmentation on back Humpback whale Megaptera novaenglidae o Bigwinged New Englander o visits mid atlantic waters NC waters included o identified by pigmentation patterns on tail flukes Eschrichtiidae gray whale Bottom suction feeder sort coarse baleen Single species family Only marine mammal to be REMOVED from the endangered species act Neobalaenidae pygmy right whale Caperea marginata Single species of the family Smallest baleen whale New Zeland biologist identified as a cetothere which is a family that was thought to be extinct for over 2 3 million years If confirmed Caperea would resurrect an extinct family Feeding status unknown Conservation status unknown Suborder Odontoceti Very diverse 10 families Physteridae sperm whale Physter macrocephalus Blower with a big head largest odontocetes head 35 of body can dive 2 hours up to 2000 m suction feeder eats cephalopods highly endangered Kogiidae pygmy and dwarf sperm whales false gill slit shark like appearance secretive and solitary animals dive deep most common live stranding in NC suction feeders Most of what we know about these guys comes from strandings Rare species Ziphiidae beaked whale and bottlenosed whales 19 species deep diving species characterized by odd teeth o they have 1 2 pairs of teeth in their lower jaw not usually seen in females o suction feeders eat cephalopods o Shepherd s beaked whale Tasmacetus shepherdi Only ziphiid with functional teeth Stranded specimens only info until 2006 when a live animal was seen Black and white pigmentation o Blainville s beaked whale Mesoplodon densirostris and Cuvier s beaked whale Ziphius cavirostris Found in NC waters Appear to be vulnerable to midfrenquency sonar Monodontidae beluga and narwal Cutie pies and that s about it Unicorns of the sea big tooth used for fighting and sensing the world Delphinidae true dolphins most diverse 32 species Conical teeth Peak and dosal fin Echolocation Social Bottlenose dolphin Tursiops truncatus o Medium 2 5 3 5 m long and 260 280 kg o Both a costal and estuarine form exist o Most commonly stranded species in NC most abundant animal o Entanglement in fishing gear lots of mortality o Dr Randy Wells studies them o Identified by their dorsal fin markings and shapes Risso s dolphin Grampus griseus o Pelagic o White scaring with age Phoconenidae porpoises 6 speceis small size unlike dolphins no beak spatulate teeth Harbor porpoise Phocoena phocena o Small 1 4 1 5 m long and 50 60 kg o Northern but visits mid atlantic waters o Young animals usually strand in mid atlantic o Large numbers dead because of entanglement in fishing gear o Dr Randy Wells from Duke expert Vequita Phoecena sinus o Discovered in 1958 pretty new o Endemic to mexico upper gulf of Californa this makes it extremely vulnerable o Killed in fishing events o 100 individuals remaining CRITICALLY ENDANGERED o most serious threat bycatch they are the same size as the totoaba endangered cianid which is fished for its swimbladder Platanistidae Ganges and Indus river dolphins 2 subspecies Ganges and Indus or susu blind very limited vision high functioning echolocation and tactile sensation live in rivers in Pakistan Bangladesh and northern India endemic to river systems HIGHLY ENDANGERED Iniidae Amazonian boto river dolphin Data deficient Status not known Discovered in 2014 Lipotidae Yangtze baiji river dolphin Lipotes vexillifer Functionally extinct 1997 16 individuals 0 individuals in 2006 Threatened by habitat destruction and direct hunting They tried ex situ conservation removal of species to protect them o TOTAL FAILURE Pontoporiidae fransiscana dolphins La Plata River dolphin Endemic with a broader distribution Coastally distributed in shallow waters of Uruguay Argentina and Brazil Data deficient unknown population status