The Soft Palate Enables Extreme Feeding and Explosive Breathing in the Fin Whale ( Balaenoptera physalus)

• Published in: Integrative Organismal Biology
• Main Authors: Vogl, A W, Petersen, H, Gil, K N, Cieri, R L, Shadwick, R E
• Other Authors: National Science and Engineering Council of Canada
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: Oxford University Press (OUP) 2024
• Subjects: Balaenoptera physalus; Fin whale
• Online Access: http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/iob/obae026; https://academic.oup.com/iob/advance-article-pdf/doi/10.1093/iob/obae026/58486359/obae026.pdf; https://academic.oup.com/iob/article-pdf/6/1/obae026/58887788/obae026.pdf

Synopsis The evolution of lunge feeding in rorqual whales was associated with the evolution of several unique morphological features that include non-synovial ligamentous temporomandibular joints, a tongue that can invert and extend backward to the umbilicus, walls of the oral cavity that can dramat...