Marine Mammal Practice Test

31. Which of the following is an effective buoyancy mechanism for whales?

A. blubber

B. rigid gas container

C. swim bladder

D. urea in their blood plasma

49. Sperm whales use a ______to modify the complex sounds that they produce.

A. spermaceti organ

B. tympanic bulla

C. statocyst

D. lateral line

50. The structure that produces clicks in whales is called a

A. nasal plug

B. lateral line

C. melon

D. labyrinth

53. The aerial phase, or leaping motion, during rapid swimming in dolphins is known as

A. porpoising

B. flying

C. sprinting

D. crossing over

66. The high-frequency sounds used during echolocation are known as

A. ultrasonic

B. infrasonic

C. supersonic

D. megasonic

1. Which of the following is false concerning migrations of marine mammals?

A. They follow oceanic gyres.

B. They are well defined.

C. They are often extensive.

D. They occur 3-4 times per year.

2. California gray whales feed during the summer months in

A. the Bering Sea

B. North Atlantic

C. Baja California

D. Sargasso Sea

3. Most mammals have ______as a characteristic reproductive trait.

A. paraviviparity

B. viviparity

C. ovoviviparity

D. oviparity

4. The newborns of blue whales can weigh ______ton(s).

A. 1.

B. 3.

C. 5.

D. 7.

8. ?????? are not air-breathing tetrapods.

A. Aves

B. Mammals

C. Amphibians

D. Reptiles

E. Agnatha

9. Which of the following is not a Mysticete?

A. sperm whale

B. humpback whale

C. fin whale

D. blue whale

10. Sperm whales are capable of diving for periods of time up to

A. 20 minutes

B. 90 minutes

C. 11 minutes

D. 2 minutes

11. Porpoises and other whales store oxygen for use during a deep dive in their

A. blood and muscle tissue

B. swim bladder

12. Which of the following buoyancy mechanisms is used by whales?

A. hydrofoil lift

B. gas bladder

C. fat and oil storage

D. all of the above

e. none of the above

13. Oxygen is transported in vertebrate blood in close chemical association with

A. blood plasma

B. hemoglobin

C. myoglobin

D. white blood cells

14. Gray whales exhibit the most unique feeding of any mysticete in that they consume

A. Arctic seals

B. benthic invertebrates that they suck out of mud

C. penguins

D. schooling anchovies

18. Long-lived aggregations in which killer whales travel are known as

A. pods

B. packs

C. herds

D. flocks

24. Bubble-net feeding is only known to occur in ______whales.

A. blue

B. humpback

C. killer

D. bowhead

27. True of false? Delayed implantation is a unique feature of seals.

30. True of false? California gray whales feed in Baja California and mate in the Bering Sea.

31. True of false? No marine mammals undergo long-distance seasonal migrations.

32. True of false? Gestation for marine mammals never exceeds two months.

33. True of false? Killer whales give birth to live young.

48. True of false? Mysticete whales all filter feed on planktonic crustaceans or small shoaling fishes.

56. True of false? Killer whales are the only cetacean known to eat other marine mammals consistently.

1. True of false? Whales and porpoises have no dorsal fins as most fish do because they evolved from land mammals.

2. True of false? Marine mammals are usually quite large because large size provides a low surface area to volume ratio.

3. True of false? Unlike land mammals, marine mammals have gestation periods that last about one year.

4. True of false? Most species of large whale's alternate between cold-water feeding grounds in the summer and warm-water breeding grounds in the winter.

5. True of false? The harbor seal is a tetrapod.

6. True of false? Myoglobin is an oxygen-carrying pigment found in the blood of vertebrates.

7 True of false? .Sperm whales frequently feed on deep-water squid.

57. True of false? Killer whale pods are matrilineal, with each pod member being a direct descendent of the oldest female in the pod.

62. True of false? A mature blue whale might engulf as much as 70 tons of water in a single mouthful.

63. True of false? The feeding method used by rorquals is engulfment feeding.

64. True of false? Mysticete whales never employ echolocation.

65. True of false? Overexploitation from whalers has caused a shift in the reproductive parameters of minke whales.

70. True of false? The melon in a dolphin is located in front of the brain.

71. True of false? The melon contains the spermaceti organ in the sperm whale.