Nouvelles données sur la masse du squelette chez les grands cétacés (Mammalia, Cetacea)

• Published in: Canadian Journal of Zoology
• Main Authors: Robineau, Daniel, Buffrénil, Vivian de
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: Canadian Science Publishing 1993
• Subjects: Animal Science and Zoology; Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics; Sperm whale; toothed whales
• Online Access: http://dx.doi.org/10.1139/z93-108; http://www.nrcresearchpress.com/doi/pdf/10.1139/z93-108

The mass of dry and fat-free skeletons was measured in a small sample representing five species of large cetaceans: two balaenids, two balaenopterids, and one physeterid (the sperm whale). Expressed as a percentage of total body mass, skeletal mass in these animals varies from 3.5 to 5%. Such values are very close to those established previously for small to medium size toothed whales. This means that the dynamics of mass growth of the skeleton, as compared with that of the body as a whole, does not follow a positive allometry in cetaceans. Such a growth pattern differs markedly from the tendencies described in terrestrial mammals. Conversely, it is similar to that described in bony fishes. The distribution of loads within the skeletons reflects rather different functional patterns among the taxa examined here. The possible adaptive significance of these differences is discussed in reference to the locomotion of large cetaceans.