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

• Published in: Integrative Organismal Biology
• Main Authors: Vogl, A W, Petersen, H, Gil, K N, Cieri, R, Shadwick, R E
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: PubMed Central 2024
• Subjects: Fin whale
• Online Access: https://doi.org/10.1093/iob/obae026; https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/39040664; https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC11261304/

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 dramatically ex...