We hope you and yours stay well during this difficult time. |
|
Aquatic and marine animals live in or near water and include birds, mammals, turtles, fish, sharks, and rays. Aquatic animals are adapted to life in and around water. Many aquatic adaptations take similar form: fusiform, or torpedo-like, bodies, flippers to assist in propulsion, the reduction or loss of hind limbs and pelvis, and a non-bony tail. An examination of the skeletal form gives insight into an animal’s survival strategy.
Aquariums play an important role in conservation and education. They give visitors an opportunity to experience marine and aquatic animals personally, helping to connect them to these species, their natural environment, and the issues they face.
Bone Clones® skeletons and skulls can give visitors a visceral experience of animals' structural framework, as they are durable and withstand handling. Bone Clones® can illustrate similarities and highlight differences in osteological form. Dolphin and manatee skeletons displayed together demonstrate similarity in body shape. Seal and dolphin forelimbs, side-by-side, illustrate convergent evolution. The addition of a human forelimb illustrates divergent evolution.
Bone Clones® are made in the U.S.A.
|
|
|
|
Big, small, powerful, deadly, or cute...sharks intrigue us, scare us, and mesmerize us. Shark jaws come in an amazing variety of shapes and sizes, showing their beauty and diversity.
Pictured left is a Bone Clones® great white shark jaw surrounded by a Megalodon shark jaw recreation with 3 rows of Meg teeth.
|
|
Homologous Forelimb Structure:
Marine and terrestrial forelimb comparison
|
|
The forelimbs of dolphin, seal, and human may appear at first glance very different. Upon closer examination all of the bones from the 3-part ancestral limb plan are present: one upper long bone, two middle long bones, and several smaller bones. Comparing dolphin, seal, and human forelimbs provides a great way to demonstrate the concept of homology (from the same origin). While used differently in the ocean and on land, all three limbs are derived from the same basic osteological structure of a common ancestor.
|
|
Aquatic & Marine Mammal Skulls
All mammals share at least three physical characteristics; hair, give birth to live young (except platypus and echidna), and the ability to produce milk. They are one of the most diverse classes of animals in the world with an enormous range in size, dietary preference, and behavior. In this category one will find skull replicas of aquatic & marine mammals, including platypus.
|
|
The bottlenose dolphin is what comes to mind for most people who picture a dolphin. The largest of the beaked dolphins, they are 8 to 12 feet long and are found mostly in coastal and inshore areas of tropical and temperate waters. Eighteen to 28 sharp conical teeth are contained on each side of each jaw. In addition to making sounds to communicate socially, they create clicking noises in their use of echolocation for locating prey. |
|
Distributed in the temperate coastal waters of the Northern Hemisphere, the harbor porpoise is a marine mammal in the order Cetacea, which also includes whales and dolphins. Porpoises are considered highly intelligent like dolphins, but are unlike dolphins in other respects. The harbor porpoise is smaller (perhaps reaching 6 feet long and 200 pounds) and less social. It also has a much more rounded head, a curved dorsal fin, and flat spade-shaped teeth (unlike the dolphin's pointed cone-shaped teeth). |
|
Aquatic & Marine Birds
Habitats of these birds include fresh water such as lakes, saltwater such as oceans and estuaries,
shallow-water and deeper water.
|
|
 |
Also available: skull, disarticulated skeleton, and individual bones and limbs.
|
The black-footed albatross (Phoebastria nigripes) is a large seabird found in the northern Pacific Ocean, primarily nesting in the Hawaiian Islands. One of the smaller members of the albatross family, it is approximately 25-29in (64-74cm) in body length with a 75-85in (193-216cm) wing span. Albatrosses use their long, slender wings to perform dynamic soaring and stay aloft for days over the open ocean. Like other members of their genus, the black-footed albatross mate for life. Both birds work to incubate their single egg and care for the chick once it has hatched. They are carnivorous birds with a diet consisting of fish, squid and crab.
|
|
|
|
|
The black-browed albatross (also known as a black-browed mollymawk) is a large sea bird found in the southern hemisphere, particularly the south Atlantic. They have white plumage, a blackish colored underwing and are named for a black eye brow trailing behind the eye. A carnivorous bird, this albatross feeds on fish, squid, crustaceans, and fishery discards. One identifying characteristic on the black-browed albatross skull is a small rectangular opening between the nasals near the contact area of the frontal bone. |
|
|
|
This mid-sized penguin from southern South America spends much of its life in open ocean and is able to drink sea water due to having a supraorbital gland, which acts as a filter, removing salt from its blood. its diet consists of small fishes, squid and crustaceans.
Penguins use flipper-like wings to "fly" through water, "porpoise," or jump out of the water, and use their feet like a duck to paddle when floating. On land they waddle, swaying side to side as they walk on their hind legs. Optional base sold separately.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
The Giant Squid uses a beak structure similar to a bird's to grab and tear its food. The parrot-like beak of the giant squid, strong enough to bite through steel cable, is used to cut prey into small pieces.
Living in the depths of all the world's oceans, this mollusk's ability to see is greatly aided by its remarkably large eyes. At 10 inches in diameter, the eyes of the giant squid are the largest in the natural world.
|
|
|
|
|
Also available: skull, disarticulated skeleton, and individual bones and limbs.
|
Manatee live in warm coastal waters and estuaries and are endangered due to changes in climate, commercial exploitation, subsistence hunting and, most recently, propeller boat injuries. These gentle animals are more closely related to elephants, hyraxes and aardvarks than to seemingly similar cetaceans (whales and dolphins). Similarities to elephants include their prehensile upper lip (reminiscent of a short trunk) and nails on their flippers (similar to those on the elephant's feet).
Noteworthy characteristics include vestigial pelvic bones, only six cervical vertebrae, elongated lungs, and pectoral fins containing five digits enclosed by thick skin. The ribs and other long bones of the manatee are especially heavy, as they do not have marrow cavities.
|
|
|
|
|
Also available: skull, disarticulated skeleton, and individual bones and limbs.
|
7-9.5 mya. This extinct sirenian was found in the Lower Bone Valley formation of the phosphate mines of Polk County, Florida, in 1978 by Melvin McClain. Its modern relatives are the manatees and modern dugong (Dugong dugon). The most notable characteristic of the dugong skull (see BC-321 Fossil Dugong Skull) is its deflected (down-turned) rostrum, an evolutionary adaptation to its role as a seagrass eater. Some think that M. floridanum is descended from Old World dugong (M. medium), which would suggest movement of the species from Europe to North America. A competing hypothesis places its origins in older N. American species, a hypothesis that implies parallel evolution of the rostra. In different parts of the world, several species of sirenians existed side by side and apparently adapted differently (longer tusks, etc.) It's not known exactly why so few sirenian species exist today.
|
|
|
|
Bone Clones Incorporated | 800-914-0091 (U.S. only) | 818-709-7991
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
