Oceanography Unit 11 Vocabulary Quiz

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tetrapod

Vertebrates that have two pairs of legs, a group that includes the cetaceans.

temperature dependent sex determination

In reptiles, where the sex of offspring is determined by the temperature at which they were incubated.

carapace

an armor like shell fused to the backbone of sea turtles

salt glands

A gland that secretes excess salts in seabirds and sea turtles.

Erythrocyte

A specialized type of blood cell that carries hemoglobin in vertebrates.

guano

The accumulation of the excrement of seabirds.

placenta

A membrane that connects the embryo with the mother's womb to provide nourishment.

subspecies

A geographically isolated group of a larger species

blowhole

The nostrils of cetaceans.

mammary glands

The milk-secreting glands of mammals.

convergent evolution

Evolution in which two different species evolve similar structures because of similar lifestyles.

ambergris

Undigested material that accumulates in sperm whale intestines.

blubber

A thick layer of fat under the skin of many marine mammals.

flukes

A group of parasitic flatworms.

pods

A school of cetaceans.

baleen

toothless whales

spout

The water vapor and seawater that is observed when whales surface and exhale.

bradychardia

The slowing down of heart rate during diving in marine mammals.

spermaceti organ

The melon of sperm whales. It contains spermaceti, an oil once widely used in candle making.

beaching

A cetacean behavior that involves the stranding individuals or groups on beaches.

ovulation

The release of an egg from the ovary.

bends

A painful condition in divers caused by nitrogen bubbles in the blood as a result of surfacing too quickly.

echolocation

The ability of some animals to sense their surroundings by analyzing the reflection of sound waves, or clicks, they emit.

harems

A large group of females herded by a large male pinniped for the purpose of mating; harems also occur in some fishes.

gestation

The length of time between fertilization and birth in mammals.

apneustic breathing

Breathing pattern shown in many marine mammals that involves deep breaths followed by exhalation.

melon

A fatty structure on the forehead of some cetaceans that is used to direct sound waves emitted during echolocation.

breaching

Leaping into the air by whales.

bachelor groups

Groups of male pinnipeds that are not in control of harems.

delayed implantation

The delay in the attachment of the early embryo to the womb in pinnipeds and some other mammals in order to time birth with favorable conditions.