Biology help, parts of a dolphin?

Question

anterior, posterior, and ventral...

Answer 1

its easy to think of it like on your own body ...

on a human the anterior would be the head end;

posterior would be the tail end (your bottom end);

ventral would be the side your stomach is on (what we would call the front);

dorsal is the side your back is on

Answer 2

Anterior = front. Think of an "anteroom" being at the front of a church or whatnot.

Posterior = rear/tail end. Think of the post-partum or post-mortum being the part "after" the birth/death.  Post comes at the end of the thing always.

Ventral = stomach side, which on the dolphin faces down.  Think of a ventriloquist making your stomach hurt (I know its stupid but if it helps you remember then it works!)

Answer 3

Dolphins have a streamlined fusiform body, adapted for fast swimming. The tail fin, called the fluke, is used for propulsion, while the pectoral fins together with the entire tail section provide directional control. The dorsal fin, in those species that have one, provides stability while swimming.

Though it varies per species, basic colouration patterns are shades of grey usually with a lighter underside. It is often combined with lines and patches of different hue and contrast.

The head contains the melon, a round organ used for echolocation. In many species, the jaws are elongated, forming a distinct beak; for some species like the Bottlenose, there is a curved mouth which looks like a fixed smile. Teeth can be very numerous (up to two hundred and fifty) in several species. Dolphins breathe through a blowhole located on top of their head, with the trachea being anterior to the brain. The dolphin brain is large and highly complex and is different in structure from most land mammals.

Unlike most mammals, dolphins do not have hair, but they are born with a few hairs around the tip of their rostrum which they lose shortly after birth, in some cases even before they are born.[9] The only exception to this is the Boto river dolphin, which does have some small hairs on the rostrum.[10]

Their reproductive organs are located on the underside of the body. Males have two slits, one concealing the p***s and one further behind for the a**s. The female has one genital slit, housing the v****a and the a**s. A mammary slit is positioned on either side of the female's genital slit.

Senses

Most dolphins have acute eyesight, both in and out of the water, and their sense of hearing is superior to that of humans. Though they have a small ear opening on each side of their head, it is believed that hearing underwater is also if not exclusively done with the lower jaw which conducts the sound vibrations to the middle ear via a fat-filled cavity in the lower jaw bone. Hearing is also used for echolocation, which seems to be an ability all dolphins have. It is believed that their teeth are arranged in a way that works as an array or antenna to receive the incoming sound and make it easier for them to pinpoint the exact location of an object.[11] The dolphin's sense of touch is also well-developed, with free nerve endings being densely packed in the skin, especially around the snout, pectoral fins and genital area. However, dolphins lack an olfactory nerve and lobes and thus are believed to have no sense of smell,[12] but they can taste and do show preferences for certain kinds of fish. Since dolphins spend most of their time below the surface normally, just tasting the water could act in a manner analogous to a sense of smell.

Though most dolphins do not have any hair, they do still have hair follicles and it is believed these might still perform some sensory function, though it is unclear what exactly this may be.[13] The small hairs on the rostrum of the Boto river dolphin are believed to function as a tactile sense however, possibly to compensate for the Boto's poor eyesight

Answer 4

There is a good labeled diagram on the link below == click on the link ===

http://eprentice.sdsu.edu/j041/kvogel/Do...

There is good information on the link below = clikc on the link ======

http://eprentice.sdsu.edu/j041/kvogel/kv...