Discovery of a sensory organ that coordinates lunge feeding in rorqual whales

• Published in: Nature
• Main Authors: Pyenson, Nicholas D., Goldbogen, Jeremy A., Vogl, A. Wayne, Szathmary, Gabor, Drake, Richard L., Shadwick, Robert E.
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: unknown
• Published: 2012
• Subjects: Rorqual; The ''Y''; baleen whales
• Online Access: http://hdl.handle.net/10088/19487; https://doi.org/10.1038/nature11135

Top ocean predators have evolved multiple solutions to the challenges of feeding in the water1, 2, 3. At the largest scale, rorqual whales (Balaenopteridae) engulf and filter prey-laden water by lunge feeding4, a strategy that is unique among vertebrates1. Lunge feeding is facilitated by several mor...