A whale's tale: The story hidden in their mouths
Baleen plates—the signature bristle-like apparatus toothless whales use to feed—reveal how these large aquatic mammals adapt to environmental changes over time.
Baleen plates—the signature bristle-like apparatus toothless whales use to feed—reveal how these large aquatic mammals adapt to environmental changes over time.
Plants & Animals
Mar 21, 2022
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39
Abrupt shifts in the evolution of animals—short periods of time when an organism rapidly changes size or form—have long been a challenge for theorists including Darwin. Now a newly published research paper supports the ...
Evolution
Mar 2, 2022
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1192
By chemically analyzing sequential samples from the baleen of dead whales, it is possible to read not only the history of the diet, but also the migration route of the animals. In the latest issue of the journal Royal Society ...
Plants & Animals
Dec 8, 2021
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49
A strange phenomenon happens with modern blue whales, humpback whales and gray whales: they have teeth in the womb but are born toothless. Replacing the teeth is baleen, a series of plates composed of thin, hair- and fingernail-like ...
Plants & Animals
May 24, 2021
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9
The two major types of cetaceans appear to have evolved their characteristic blowholes through different anatomical transformations, according to a study being presented at the American Association for Anatomy annual meeting ...
Evolution
Apr 27, 2021
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15
A new scientific discovery in Australia by Flinders University has recorded for the first time how ghost currents and sediments can 'undo' the force of gravity.
Earth Sciences
Apr 14, 2021
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7
Until recently, what we knew about the lives of baleen whales in the Southern Ocean was chiefly based on research conducted during the Antarctic summer. The reason: in the winter, there were virtually no biologists on site ...
Plants & Animals
Dec 17, 2020
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448
Through video tracking and examination of museum specimens, scientists have discovered why Siberia's Lake Baikal seals are thriving when so many other seal populations are suffering from human-caused environmental stresses.
Plants & Animals
Nov 30, 2020
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138
Sticking to the bodies of sharks and other larger marine life is a well-known specialty of remora fishes (Echeneidae) and their super-powered suction disks on their heads. But a new study has now fully documented the "suckerfish" ...
Plants & Animals
Oct 28, 2020
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101
Researchers have been using passive acoustic recordings of whale calls to track their movements. They have found that four of the six baleen whale species found in the western North Atlantic Ocean—humpback, sei, fin and ...
Plants & Animals
Jul 17, 2020
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124