Data from: Architecture of the sperm whale forehead facilitates ramming combat ...

• Main Authors: Panagiotopoulou, Olga, Spyridis, Panagiotis, Mehari Abraha, Hyab, Carrier, David R., Pataky, Todd C.
• Format: Dataset
• Language: English
• Published: Dryad 2017
• Subjects: ramming combat; spermaceti organ; Physeter macrocephalus L.; probabilistic simulation; junk; Finite element analysis; head-butting; Physeter macrocephalus; Sperm whale
• Online Access: https://dx.doi.org/10.5061/dryad.81rp6; https://datadryad.org/stash/dataset/doi:10.5061/dryad.81rp6

Herman Melville’s novel Moby Dick was inspired by historical instances in which large sperm whales (Physeter macrocephalus L.) sank 19th century whaling ships by ramming them with their foreheads. The immense forehead of sperm whales is possibly the largest, and one of the strangest, anatomical structures in the animal kingdom. It contains two large oil-filled compartments, known as the “spermaceti organ” and “junk”, that constitute up to one-quarter of body mass and extend one-third of the total length of the whale. Recognized as playing an important role in echolocation, previous studies have also attributed the complex structural configuration of the spermaceti organ and junk to acoustic sexual selection, acoustic prey debilitation, buoyancy control, and aggressive ramming. Of these additional suggested functions, ramming remains the most controversial, and the potential mechanical roles of the structural components of the spermaceti organ and junk in ramming remain untested. Here we explore the ... : Probabilistic Simulation for FEAPython script used for the probabilistic simulation of all finite element modelsMODEL AThis folder contains all finite element models and the simulation results for Model A and its subsequent modifications in terms of impact force angle and location; and the thickness of the connective tissue partitions. All sub-folders contain a "read me.txt" file that describes all metadata.MODEL_A.zipMODEL BThis folder contains all finite element models and the simulation results for Model B and its subsequent modifications in terms of impact force angle and location.All sub-folders contain a "read me.txt" file that describes all metadata.MODEL_B.zipMODEL CThis folder contains all finite element models and the simulation results for Model C and its subsequent modifications in terms of impact force angle and location.All sub-folders contain a "read me.txt" file that describes all metadata.MODEL_C.zip ...