Decompression syndrome and the evolution of deep diving physiology in the Cetacea
Cetacea; ocean; behavior; Science & Technology - Other Topics; blue; avascular osteonecrosis; beaked-whales; behaviorally induced paleopathology; dive; diving; gas-bubble lesions; mysticeti; odontoceti; Physiology; ziphiidae
Whales repetitively dive deep to feed and should be susceptible to decompression syndrome, though they are not known to suffer the associated pathologies. Avascular osteonecrosis has been recognized as an indicator of diving habits of extinct marine amniotes. Vertebrae of 331 individual modern and 996 fossil whales were subjected to macroscopic and radiographic examination. Avascular osteonecrosis was found in the Oligocene basal odontocetes (Xenorophoidea) and in geologically younger mysticetes, such as Aglaocetus [a sister taxon to Balaenopteridae+(Balaenidae+Eschrichtiidae) clade]. These are considered as early "experiments" in repetitive deep diving, indicating that they independently converged on their similar specialized diving physiologies.
Beatty B L; Rothschild B M
Naturwissenschaften
2008
2008-09
Journal Article or Conference Abstract Publication
<a href="http://doi.org/10.1007/s00114-008-0385-9" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">10.1007/s00114-008-0385-9</a>
New Applications For Constrained Ordination: Reconstructing Feeding Behaviors In Fossil Remingtonocetinae (cetacea: Mammalia)
Archaeocetes; components; Constrained ordination; Eocene; eocene cetaceans; evolution; Feeding; india; Mastication; morphology; odontoceti; Reconstruction; regression; suction; transition; whales
Cooper L N; Hieronymus T L; Vinyard C J; Bajpai S; Thewissen J G M
Experimental Approaches to Understanding Fossil Organisms: Lessons from the Living
2014
1905-07
Book Chapter
n/a
The spiral ganglion and Rosenthal's canal in beluga whales.
Animals; Beluga Whale/*anatomy & histology; Cetacea; cochlea; Delphinapterus leucas; hearing; inner ear; Neurons/cytology; Odontoceti; Spiral Ganglion/*cytology
With the increase of human activity and corresponding increase in anthropogenic sounds in marine waters of the Arctic, it is necessary to understand its effect on the hearing of marine wildlife. We have conducted a baseline study on the spiral ganglion and Rosenthal's canal of the cochlea in beluga whales (Delphinapterus leucas) as an initial assessment of auditory anatomy and health. We present morphometric data on the length of the cochlea, number of whorls, neuron densities along its length, Rosenthal's canal length, and cross-sectional area, and show some histological results. In belugas, Rosenthal's canal is not a cylinder of equal cross-sectional area, but its cross-section is greatest near the apex of the basal whorl. We found systematic variation in the numbers of neurons along the length of the spiral ganglion, indicating that neurons are not dispersed evenly in Rosenthal's canal. These results provide data on functionally important structural parameters of the beluga ear. We observed no signs of acoustic trauma in our sample of beluga whales.
Sensor Jennifer D; Suydam Robert; George John C; Liberman M C; Lovano Denise; Rhaganti Mary Ann; Usip Sharon; Vinyard Christopher J; Thewissen J G M
Journal of morphology
2015
2015-12
Article information provided for research and reference use only. All rights are retained by the journal listed under publisher and/or the creator(s).
<a href="http://doi.org/10.1002/jmor.20434" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">10.1002/jmor.20434</a>