Why are some aquatic animals, especially mammals such as whales, extremely large compared with terrestrial animals?
2007-11-25 14:05:34 · 8 answers · asked by livelaughlove 2 in Science & Mathematics ➔ Biology
Because of buoyancy in water, marine mammals do not have to spend a lot of energy moving around. Wales grow to be the biggest because they eat small krill, which can be caught in large quantities.
2007-11-25 14:21:25 · answer #1 · answered by OKIM IM 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Large Aquatic Mammal
2016-12-17 06:19:02 · answer #2 · answered by ? 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Terrestrial *mammals* came first before aquatic mammals. Whales and dolphin, like *all* mammals, evolved from land animals. I was the one who said that whales were most closely linked to ancestral hippos. It sounds crazy (I was surprised too), but the genetic evidence has been very strong and growing stronger, and there's some recent fossil evidence to back it up. I first read about it in Richard Dawkins' "The Ancestor's Tale". I found *many* other web sources below. (Or just Google "hippos whales".)
2016-05-25 23:12:31 · answer #3 · answered by leah 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
A big reason for this is that there is a lower gravity pressure underwater than for terrestrial animals. Animals on land are subject to a higher gravitational pressure thus limiting their size because large animals have a harder time moving. Animals in the ocean also have water buoyancy to make their size less of a hindrance.
2007-11-25 14:12:25 · answer #4 · answered by Aubrey M 1 · 1⤊ 0⤋
whales, specifically, feed on different things, depending on if it is toothed or has a baleen. Whales in general, have more food available to them in comparison to land mammals. They travel with the flow of food and also have fewer predators. Their diet consists of one of (if not) the largest food supplies in the world: plankton (this includes krill); they also can feed on invertebrates (crabs, worms, etc.) or small fish.
By the way, you're asking about marine, not aquatic mammals. Marine refers to salt water and aquatic refers to fresh water. If you ever find a large fresh water whales, please let me know.
2007-11-25 14:20:55 · answer #5 · answered by June C 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
because there is more food in the ocean and 75% of earth is water. Also, the water is more bouyant for these huge mammals
2007-11-25 14:13:08 · answer #6 · answered by savio 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
They can grow larger because the water supports their weight.
2007-11-25 14:09:54 · answer #7 · answered by Jade f 1 · 2⤊ 0⤋
seals, walruses, paldypusses.
2007-11-25 14:08:44 · answer #8 · answered by kolin g 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋