Whale evolution homework

Whales are large aquatic animals that live in most of the world’s oceans and seas. They belong to the order Cetacea, along with porpoises and dolphins. The term whale can be used for any animal in that order. In general, however, it is used for cetaceans longer than 10 feet (3 meters).

Whales are mammals. As such, they are warm-blooded, or endothermic. This means that they can sustain a constant body temperature that is ideal for their bodily functions under most weather conditions. As mammals, whales give live birth. After a baby whale is born, it nurses on its mother’s milk, just like the young of land mammals.

Baleen whales belong to the scientific suborder Mysticeti (called mysticetes). The baleen whales are toothless. Instead, they have modifications of the mouth called baleen. Baleen is made of keratin, which is a fibrous protein that forms structures such as hair, fingernails, and hooves.

After a baby whale is born, it nurses on its mother’s milk, just like the young of land mammals. All whales have specialized adaptations, such as flippers, for living in water. Whales must surface regularly to breathe. They evacuate their lungs more completely than most mammals in an almost explosive breath known as a blow.