Morphology of nares associated with stereo-olfaction in baleen whales
The sensory mechanisms used by baleen whales (Mysticeti) for locating ephemeral, dense prey patches in vast marine habitats are poorly understood. Baleen whales have a functional olfactory system with paired rather than single blowholes (nares), potentially enabling stereo-olfaction. Dimethyl sulfid...
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Online Access: | http://dx.doi.org/10.1098/rsbl.2023.0479 https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/pdf/10.1098/rsbl.2023.0479 https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/full-xml/10.1098/rsbl.2023.0479 |
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crroyalsociety:10.1098/rsbl.2023.0479 2024-09-15T17:57:24+00:00 Morphology of nares associated with stereo-olfaction in baleen whales Ryan, Conor Martins, Maria C. I. Healy, Kevin Bejder, Lars Cerchio, Salvatore Christiansen, Fredrik Durban, John Fearnbach, Holly Fortune, Sarah Friedlaender, Ari Koski, William R. Miller, Carolyn Rodríguez-González, Fabian M. Segre, Paolo S. Urbán R, Jorge Vivier, Fabien Weir, Caroline R. Moore, Michael J. 2024 http://dx.doi.org/10.1098/rsbl.2023.0479 https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/pdf/10.1098/rsbl.2023.0479 https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/full-xml/10.1098/rsbl.2023.0479 en eng The Royal Society https://royalsociety.org/-/media/journals/author/Licence-to-Publish-20062019-final.pdf https://royalsociety.org/journals/ethics-policies/data-sharing-mining/ Biology Letters volume 20, issue 1 ISSN 1744-957X journal-article 2024 crroyalsociety https://doi.org/10.1098/rsbl.2023.0479 2024-08-26T04:21:02Z The sensory mechanisms used by baleen whales (Mysticeti) for locating ephemeral, dense prey patches in vast marine habitats are poorly understood. Baleen whales have a functional olfactory system with paired rather than single blowholes (nares), potentially enabling stereo-olfaction. Dimethyl sulfide (DMS) is an odorous gas emitted by phytoplankton in response to grazing by zooplankton. Some seabirds use DMS to locate prey, but this ability has not been demonstrated in whales. For 14 extant species of baleen whale, nares morphometrics (imagery from unoccupied aerial systems, UAS) was related to published trophic level indices using Bayesian phylogenetic mixed modelling. A significant negative relationship was found between nares width and whale trophic level ( β = −0.08, lower 95% CI = −0.13, upper 95% CI = −0.03), corresponding with a 39% increase in nares width from highest to lowest trophic level. Thus, species with nasal morphology best suited to stereo-olfaction are more zooplanktivorous. These findings provide evidence that some baleen whale species may be able to localize odorants e.g. DMS. Our results help direct future behavioural trials of olfaction in baleen whales, by highlighting the most appropriate species to study. This is a research priority, given the potential for DMS-mediated plastic ingestion by whales. Article in Journal/Newspaper baleen whale baleen whales The Royal Society Biology Letters 20 1 |
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Open Polar |
collection |
The Royal Society |
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crroyalsociety |
language |
English |
description |
The sensory mechanisms used by baleen whales (Mysticeti) for locating ephemeral, dense prey patches in vast marine habitats are poorly understood. Baleen whales have a functional olfactory system with paired rather than single blowholes (nares), potentially enabling stereo-olfaction. Dimethyl sulfide (DMS) is an odorous gas emitted by phytoplankton in response to grazing by zooplankton. Some seabirds use DMS to locate prey, but this ability has not been demonstrated in whales. For 14 extant species of baleen whale, nares morphometrics (imagery from unoccupied aerial systems, UAS) was related to published trophic level indices using Bayesian phylogenetic mixed modelling. A significant negative relationship was found between nares width and whale trophic level ( β = −0.08, lower 95% CI = −0.13, upper 95% CI = −0.03), corresponding with a 39% increase in nares width from highest to lowest trophic level. Thus, species with nasal morphology best suited to stereo-olfaction are more zooplanktivorous. These findings provide evidence that some baleen whale species may be able to localize odorants e.g. DMS. Our results help direct future behavioural trials of olfaction in baleen whales, by highlighting the most appropriate species to study. This is a research priority, given the potential for DMS-mediated plastic ingestion by whales. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Ryan, Conor Martins, Maria C. I. Healy, Kevin Bejder, Lars Cerchio, Salvatore Christiansen, Fredrik Durban, John Fearnbach, Holly Fortune, Sarah Friedlaender, Ari Koski, William R. Miller, Carolyn Rodríguez-González, Fabian M. Segre, Paolo S. Urbán R, Jorge Vivier, Fabien Weir, Caroline R. Moore, Michael J. |
spellingShingle |
Ryan, Conor Martins, Maria C. I. Healy, Kevin Bejder, Lars Cerchio, Salvatore Christiansen, Fredrik Durban, John Fearnbach, Holly Fortune, Sarah Friedlaender, Ari Koski, William R. Miller, Carolyn Rodríguez-González, Fabian M. Segre, Paolo S. Urbán R, Jorge Vivier, Fabien Weir, Caroline R. Moore, Michael J. Morphology of nares associated with stereo-olfaction in baleen whales |
author_facet |
Ryan, Conor Martins, Maria C. I. Healy, Kevin Bejder, Lars Cerchio, Salvatore Christiansen, Fredrik Durban, John Fearnbach, Holly Fortune, Sarah Friedlaender, Ari Koski, William R. Miller, Carolyn Rodríguez-González, Fabian M. Segre, Paolo S. Urbán R, Jorge Vivier, Fabien Weir, Caroline R. Moore, Michael J. |
author_sort |
Ryan, Conor |
title |
Morphology of nares associated with stereo-olfaction in baleen whales |
title_short |
Morphology of nares associated with stereo-olfaction in baleen whales |
title_full |
Morphology of nares associated with stereo-olfaction in baleen whales |
title_fullStr |
Morphology of nares associated with stereo-olfaction in baleen whales |
title_full_unstemmed |
Morphology of nares associated with stereo-olfaction in baleen whales |
title_sort |
morphology of nares associated with stereo-olfaction in baleen whales |
publisher |
The Royal Society |
publishDate |
2024 |
url |
http://dx.doi.org/10.1098/rsbl.2023.0479 https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/pdf/10.1098/rsbl.2023.0479 https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/full-xml/10.1098/rsbl.2023.0479 |
genre |
baleen whale baleen whales |
genre_facet |
baleen whale baleen whales |
op_source |
Biology Letters volume 20, issue 1 ISSN 1744-957X |
op_rights |
https://royalsociety.org/-/media/journals/author/Licence-to-Publish-20062019-final.pdf https://royalsociety.org/journals/ethics-policies/data-sharing-mining/ |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1098/rsbl.2023.0479 |
container_title |
Biology Letters |
container_volume |
20 |
container_issue |
1 |
_version_ |
1810433549323468800 |