Sensory Hairs in the Bowhead Whale, Balaena mysticetus (Cetacea, Mammalia).

Sensory Hairs in the Bowhead Whale, Balaena mysticetus (Cetacea, Mammalia).

Drake Summer E; Crish Samuel D; George John C; Stimmelmayr Raphaella; Thewissen J G M

Anatomical record (Hoboken, N.J. : 2007)

2015

2015-07

We studied the histology and morphometrics of the hairs of bowhead whales (Balaena mysticetus). These whales are hairless except for two patches of more than 300 hairs on the rostral tip of the lower lip and chin, the rostral tip of the upper lip, and a bilateral row of approximately ten hairs caudal to the blowhole. Histological data indicate that hairs in all three of these areas are vibrissae: they show an outermost connective tissue capsule, a circumferential blood sinus system surrounding the hair shaft, and dense innervation to the follicle. Morphometric data were collected on hair diameters, epidermal recess diameters, hair follicle length, and external hair lengths. The main difference between the hairs in the different regions is that blowhole hairs have larger diameters than the hairs in the chin and rostrum regions. We speculate that the hair shaft thickness patterns in bowheads reflect functional specializations.

anatomy; Animals; Bowhead Whale/*anatomy & histology; Cetacea; Epidermis; hair; Hair/*anatomy & histology; Lip/anatomy & histology; vibrissa; whale

Article information provided for research and reference use only. All rights are retained by the journal listed under publisher and/or the creator(s).

1327–1335

7

298