Sperm whales (Physeter macrocephalus) are among the largest, yet most elusive, creatures inhabiting deep ocean waters. Adult sperm whales undertake long, deep dives (Watkins et al., 1993) into the darkness and high pressure of the meso- and bathypelagic depths. They do this to locate and catch appro...
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| Format: | Text |
| Language: | English |
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| Online Access: | http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/summary?doi=10.1.1.587.8833 http://jeb.biologists.org/content/205/13/1899.full.pdf |
| Summary: | Sperm whales (Physeter macrocephalus) are among the largest, yet most elusive, creatures inhabiting deep ocean waters. Adult sperm whales undertake long, deep dives (Watkins et al., 1993) into the darkness and high pressure of the meso- and bathypelagic depths. They do this to locate and catch approximately 1000 kg (Lockyer, 1981) of medium-sized squid and fish (Clarke et al., 1993) each day. The most prominent feature of the sperm whale physique is the large nasal complex (Fig. 1), accounting for up to one-third of the body length of large males (Nishiwaki et al., 1963). The entire forehead is heavily innervated by cranial nerves V and VII (Oelschläger and Kemp, 1998), and the potential level of activity in the muscle complex controlling the forehead is implicated by the highest density of arteries found in any muscle tissue of the sperm whale (Melnikov |
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