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Organism Physiology Paper

Essay by   •  May 7, 2012  •  Term Paper  •  928 Words (4 Pages)  •  2,073 Views

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Every living creature is a descendant of that ancestor. On the outside, it does not seem as if all living creatures are related; however, looks can be misleading. It does not matter how small or large an organism has been through changes all through history. An organism's evolution is significant to the species' survival. An organism will change with time. If an organism does not adapt to these changes, it would not live on and become extinct. This assignment will discuss how dolphins today evolve into an organism to adjust to their surroundings.

The key for every organism to survive is to become accustomed to changing times. Dolphins are intelligent animals are considered friendly and have an extremely playful attitude making them well-liked all over the world. Some scientists believe they derived from land creatures to sea creatures because of altering atmospheres and other things occurring on land millions of years back. To suit their environments, dolphins became creatures living in the waters. Today, these animals are known for their liveliness and mischievous behavior labeling them a favorite of nature observers.

Biologists have several reasons to believe dolphins were land organisms:

* They have lungs and have to come to the surface for air whereas fish such as salmon, marlins, and flounder continuously reside under water or will die if they do not.

* Dolphins are different than other species of fish. For example: whereas dolphins are mammals and have live births and fish lay eggs.

* Dolphins are warm-blooded animals and nurse their young. Some scientists believe at some point in their life time, dolphins may have had hair.

By swimming at the side of ships, this is called as bow-riding, dolphins preserve energy. These mammals also live in collective groups of five to hundreds. Some scientists believe dolphins use echolocation to locate prey. Dolphins hunt together by surrounding schools of fish, entrapping them, and alternate swimming through the school to catch them. Scientists also believe dolphins are from the mesonychid. Over 55 million years ago, mesonychids were animals having skeletal structures comparable to a human hand and are as well as humerus. Humerus is the long bone of the human upper arm or of a forelimb in other animals or complete with a socket and ball joint. This discovery lead scientists to believe dolphins developed from terrestrial ancestors based on Molecular, DNA, and genetic studies.

When looking at the diagram, it shows dolphins having a blow hole enabling them to breathe as they come up to the surface for air. The blowhole is a specialized single nostril positioned on the top of their head. Dolphins can refill and empty their lungs in less than a fifth of a second. When breathing, the air will leave the blowhole at speeds of 100 mph or more. As dolphins have adapted to life underwater, they have gained outstanding vision in and out of

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