This document provides information about aquatic mammals and their distribution. It discusses four main groups of aquatic mammals: cetaceans (whales, dolphins and porpoises), pinnipeds (seals, sea lions and walruses), sirenians (manatees and dugongs), and polar bears and sea otters. It describes characteristics of aquatic mammals and provides examples of different species found in various marine environments around the world. The document also discusses the habitats and behaviors that allow aquatic mammals to survive in water.

1. NAME
H M IMRAN UL HAQ
ROLL NO.
MCF1900758
CLASS
MSC ZOOLOGY
COURSE TITLE :
Mammalogy
SHIFT
MORNING
SUBMITTED TO
Respected MAM Dr. RABIA YAQOOB
DATE
07-06-2021

2. Aquatic mammals & Distribution

3. Definition
live in the water and depend on it for survival.
Marine mammals are aquatic mammals that rely on the ocean for their
existence
They include animals such as sea lions, whales, dugongs, sea otters and polar.
Aquatic mammals include species that live their entire live in the water and
depend on it for survival, such as whales, dolphins or manatees etc.
Marine mammals are classified into four different taxonomic groups:
1. cetaceans (whales, dolphins, and porpoises),
2. pinnipeds (seals, sea lions, and walruses),
3. sirenians (manatees and dugongs)
4. marine fissipeds (polar bears and sea otters

4. Examples of aquatic Mammals
 Aquatic animals pertain to animals that live predominantly
in different water forms, such as seas, oceans, rivers, lakes,
ponds, etc.
 Examples of aquatic animals include fish, jellyfish, sharks,
whales, octopus, barnacle, sea otters, crocodiles, crabs,
dolphins, eels, rays, mussels, and so on.

5. Characteristics
o Aquatic is to refer freshwater
o Aquatic talks about animals that grows at lakes and rivers
o Land-dwelling ancestors
o Warm-blooded
o Breathe air
o Mammary glands for milk
o They all have 3 ear bones
o Bear live young
o Most of them have different kinds of teeth
o 4 chambered hearts.
o highly developed brain

6. List of Aquatic Mammals:
Whales, dolphins, porpoises, manatee and dugong are
completely aquatic; seals​, sea lions, walrus, hippopotamus,
platypus, otters, beavers and nutria.

7. Where Do they live?
1. All over the ocean
2. They migrate often based on seasons, breeding and
feeding cycles.
3. Some live in the Arctic (Polar Bears)
4. Some live along the Pacific Coast (Sea Otters)
5. Some live in the West Indies (Dugongs)

8. How Do they survive?
1. Thermoregulation- adaptation to the water.
2. Blubber- stores fat and energy.
3. fur traps a layer of air next to the skin to keep it dry.
4. Vasodilation- controls body temperature by controlling blood
flow.

9. Distribution
1. Marine mammals are widely distributed throughout the globe, but their
distribution is patchy and coincides with the productivity of the oceans
2. Species richness peaks at around 40° latitude, both north and south.
3. This corresponds to the highest levels of primary production around North and
South America, Africa, Asia and Australia.
4. Total species range is highly variable for marine mammal species.

10. Distribution of Aquatic Mammals
Aquatic mammals
o found in almost all the different marine environments, and their distribution
varies according to the physical, chemical, and biological characteristics
o In the case of pinnipeds, the breeding and molting habitats on land or ice
also characterize their distribution.
o In the polar bear, breeding and cub-rearing habitats are also relevant.
In freshwater environments:
o Aquatic mammals are found in rivers and lakes.
o Examples of riverine species are the river dolphins.
o A few Phocidae live in freshwater inland lakes

11. In marine environments
generally described as coastal, neritic, or oceanic.
Examples
coastal waters are populations of bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops spp.),
sea otters (.Enhydra lutris), and dugongs {Dugong dugon).
neritic species
gray whales (Eschrichtius robustus), harbor porpoise (Phocoena phocoena), and
California sea lions (Zalophus californianus).
oceanic species
include the sperm (Physeter macrocephalus) and beaked whales (family Ziphiidae).

12. Class MAMMALIA (Order CETACEA)
Whales, dolphins, and porpoises
 • 86 species worldwide and are found in
coastal and estuarine waters
 • Fusiform body shape with no external ears
 • Hind limbs are reduced and only vestiges of
them found inside the body
 • Front limbs turned into flippers, and most
species possess a single dorsal fin
 • Males slit are more widely separated
 while females are closer.
 Also, females have two mammary slits

13. Whale
 Whales can be found inhabiting all of the world's major oceans, from the Arctic
and Antarctic oceans to the tropical waters in and around the equator's center.
 Whales live only in water
 Most of the larger giant whales live in areas that are cold.
 Whales are a widely distributed and diverse group of fully aquatic placental marine
mammals.
 streamlined bodies
 front limbs have been modified into broad flippers
 Whales lack back limbs and external ears.
 A thick layer of blubber beneath their skin helps to conserve heat.

14. Dolphins
 Dolphin is the common name of aquatic mammals within the
infraorder Cetacea.
 River dolphins are completely aquatic and fully dependent on aquatic
ecosystems.
 Physical Appearance.
 color from light gray to dark gray on their backs,
 lightens to white on their underbellies and beneath their jaws
 Dolphins live in open oceans, coastal waters that include bays and inlets,
river basins, certain inland seas, gulfs, and in channels
 dolphins eat a lot, so they tend to spend the majority of their time in areas
where they have access to an abundant food supply which can include
extended depths.

15. Class MAMMALIA Order PINNIPEDS
Seals, Sea Lions & Walrus
• Large layers if blubber under the skin
streamlining their shape
• 33 species with 3 families:
1. Phocidae (true seals) - visible ear flaps
2. Otariidae (eared seals) – do not have visible ear flaps
3. Odobenidae (walrus) –

16. Seals
 Seals live in the oceans of the Northern and Southern hemispheres,
 primarily in polar, subpolar and temperate climates, with the exception of tropical
monk seals
 Aquatic carnivores have a streamlined shape, flippers and webbed feet.
 They have no visible external ears.
 Millions of years of adaptation to the sea have made seals expert swimmers and
divers, but they are quite awkward on land.
 A thick layer of oily fat or blubber up to 3 inches thick insulates them by
maintaining a body temperature around 100 degrees Fahrenheit.
 Among the 18 species are leopard seal, harp seal, common or harbor seal, gray seal,
Weddell seal, spotted seal, ringed seal and Baikal seal.

17. Sea lions
 Sea lions have conspicuous external ears.
 Their four limbs give them good mobility on land.
 The 13 species of sea lions are divided into two groups,
1. sea lions
2. and fur seals.
 The California sea lion, native to the southwest coast of North
America, is the most abundant species of sea lion.
 The northern fur seal migrates in winter from the Bering Sea to
California and Japan.
 Distribution:
 found along the coast of the eastern North Pacific, from southern
British Columbia to western Mexico including Baja California.
California sea lions breed on islands off the coasts of California and
Baja California, including the Channel Islands, Guadalupe, San
Benitos, and Cedros.

18. Walrus
 The walrus is found in the Arctic Ocean and in subarctic seas.
 Walruses spend much of their time on land, but they are graceful in water
 Dive up to 180 feet deep for clams and shellfish on the ocean floor, staying underwater for
up to 30 minutes.
 The adult male walrus weighs more than 2,000 pounds.
 Its upper canines form tusks up to 27 inches long that it hooks into ice floes to pull itself out
of the water.
 Walruses live up to 40 years in the wild.

19. THANKS FOR ATTENTION