1. Marine Vertebrates Reptiles and Birds

2. 7 classes Agnatha Condrichthyes Osteichthyes Reptilia Amphibia (no marine species) Aves Mammalia

3. Class Reptilia (3 major groups of marine reptiles) Only marine reptiles on our coast are American Crocodile and 5 species of sea turtle Sea snakes are also marine reptiles, but none are in the Atlantic Cold blooded, air breathing, covered with scales Internal fertilization

4. 3 groups of marine reptiles: Sea turtles Sea snakes Marine lizards mostly tropical. Why? –cold blooded

5. Turtles Lightweight, streamlined shell ribs, backbone are attached to shell Top – carapace Bottom – plastron Neck cant be pulled into shell Legs are modified paddle like flippers Pharynx acts like gill

6. Turtles Specialties –salt glands – eyes (tears are salty) –Osmoregulation excrete nitrogen wastes as uric acid crystals reabsorb water from urine Green sea turtle unique – produces large amounts of watery urine

7. Turtles –Turtle migration – every 2-4 years, they go back to ancestral nesting areas. Instinct guides them Eggs – shell in sand and moist –protects from predators –keeps warm –keeps from drying out Female lays eggs 5 times each year After 60 days, babies hatch

8. Turtles Cold – stay in warmer water –Exception – leatherback turtle (increased fat and blood flow system to decrease warm blood to skin) Fat deposits or flippers Spongy bone to float Green sea turtle has green fat Streamlined, flippers, flat from top to bottom to decrease water resistance Leatherback can eat Portuguese Man of War without getting stung Exploited for meat, jewelry, oil and eggs

9. Lizards only living marine lizard is the Galapagos marine iguana

10. Birds Bouyancy fatty deposits thin, light bones oil glands (secrete preen) air sacs within thorax

11. Birds Most birds (except cormorant and frigate birds) float on the water Warm blooded Evolved from reptiles Most can fly All have feathers

12. Birds lightweight, durable insulation Minimal taste and smell Hearing and sight are acute Excess salt accumulates near nostrils and oozes out High metabolism, 4 chambered heart webbed feet typical All marine birds must return to the shore to nest

13. Gulls: lack of specialization feed on anything scavengers can fly up with a clam and drop it to a hard surface cracking it open

14. Cormorants eat fish swim heavy bones no oil glands plumage is not waterproof need to dry feathers – wings outstretched on rock to dry Produce lots of guano (solid waste)

15. Penguins thick layer of fat under the skin dense fur like feathers short appendages to maintain internal body heat Emperor can dive to 900 feet for up to 18 minutes!

17. Pelagic Birds spend almost their entire lives beyond sight of land –Puffins –Albatrosses