Fig. 6.1. Three Florida manatees (Trichechus manatus latirostris), Crystal River National Wildlife Refuge, Florida
Image courtesy of David Hinkel, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS)
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Introduction to Mammals
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Mammals are a group of vertebrate animals. Many of the animals most familiar to humans, such as rats, cats, dogs, pigs, sheep, and cattle, are mammals (Fig. 6.1). Humans are mammals as well. In this unit, we will investigate the biology of these diverse and successful animals.
Ocean Literacy Principles
Principle 5: The ocean supports a great diversity of life and ecosystems.
Ocean Literacy Fundamental Concept: Ocean life ranges in size from the smallest virus to the largest animal that has lived on Earth, the blue whale. (OLP 5a)
Ocean Literacy Fundamental Concept: Some major groups are found exclusively in the ocean. The diversity of major groups of organisms is much greater in the ocean than on land. (OLP 5c)
Ocean Literacy Fundamental Concept: Ocean biology provides many unique examples of life cycles, adaptations and important relationships among organisms (such as symbiosis, predator-prey dynamics and energy transfer) that do not occur on land. (OLP 5d)
To build an understanding of how the ocean supports a diversity of living organisms and ecosystems, it’s important to learn about the biology of mammals.
These concepts will be explored in this unit through the following activities and investigations:
Measuring Whale Dimensions
Use dimensional scaling to model how marine mammal biologists measure the size of large marine mammals in the wild.
Insulation in Marine Mammals
Investigate the role of marine mammal blubber and fur in maintaining internal body temperature.
Whale Feeding Strategies
Investigate the various feeding strategies used by mysticete and odontocete cetaceans.
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