Whale of a find.Remains from eight unidentified whales had been sitting in a museum since the 1970s. Intrigued, Yamada Tadasu from Tokyo's National Science Museum and colleagues set out to identify them. Clues? The remains were from a type of baleen whale baleen whale Any of about 13 species of cetaceans in the suborder Mysticeti. They are distinguished by a specialized feeding structure, the baleen, which strains plankton and small crustaceans from the water. It consists of two horny plates attached to the roof of the mouth. . Unlike other whales, which have teeth, baleens sport comb-like plates that filter plankton plankton: see marine biology. plankton Marine and freshwater organisms that, because they are unable to move or are too small or too weak to swim against water currents, exist in a drifting, floating state. from the ocean. But the mystery whales had far fewer strainers Water lines or kitchen systems can get gravel, deposits that break free, and other stray items in the line. The velocity of the water pushing them, they can severely damage or clog devices installed in the flow stream of the water line. than other baleens. And though they resembled fin whales (type of baleen whale), they were much smaller. Could the remains be from a new species? To find out, they compared the mystery, whales' bone structure and DNA DNA: see nucleic acid. DNA or deoxyribonucleic acid One of two types of nucleic acid (the other is RNA); a complex organic compound found in all living cells and many viruses. It is the chemical substance of genes. (hereditary information) with other baleen whales. What they discovered made quite a splash. The DNA from the samples differed from other baleens' DNA. Tadasu's team identified an entirely new whale species, now called Balaenoptera omurai. Was the find a fluke? Says Yamada, "No one knows how many unknown whale species or completely unknown creatures are hidden in the oceans." "A Newly Discovered Species of Living Baleen Whale," by Shiro Wada, Masayuki Oishi, and Tadasu K. Yamada, Nature, November 20, 2003. Test your Whale IQ with "Cetacean cetacean Any of the exclusively aquatic placental mammals constituting the order Cetacea. They are found in oceans worldwide and in some freshwater environments. Modern cetaceans are grouped in two suborders: about 70 species of toothed whales (Odontoceti) and 13 species of Trivia" at this educational Web site. Site also includes facts about your favorite whales and a lesson plan for understanding whale morphology. Visit: www.whalesongs.org/ |
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