Fetal and Early Post-Natal Mineralization of the Tympanic Bulla in Fin Whales May Reveal a Hitherto Undiscovered Evolutionary Trait
The evolution of the cetacean skeleton followed a path that differentiated this group from other terrestrial mammals about 50 million years ago [1], and debate is still going on about the relationships between Cetacea and Artiodactyla [2,3,4]. Some skeletal traits of the basilosaurids (the more adva...
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ftunivpadovairis:oai:www.research.unipd.it:11577/2494850 2024-04-14T08:09:30+00:00 Fetal and Early Post-Natal Mineralization of the Tympanic Bulla in Fin Whales May Reveal a Hitherto Undiscovered Evolutionary Trait COZZI, BRUNO MAZZARIOL, SANDRO ZOTTI, ALESSANDRO M. Podestà Cozzi, Bruno M., Podestà Mazzariol, Sandro Zotti, Alessandro 2012 ELETTRONICO http://hdl.handle.net/11577/2494850 https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0037110 eng eng info:eu-repo/semantics/altIdentifier/pmid/22615912 info:eu-repo/semantics/altIdentifier/wos/WOS:000305341300073 volume:7 issue:5 firstpage:e37110 journal:PLOS ONE http://hdl.handle.net/11577/2494850 doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0037110 info:eu-repo/semantics/altIdentifier/scopus/2-s2.0-84861209131 info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess X-RAY ABSORPTIOMETRY BONE-DENSITY CETACEANS info:eu-repo/semantics/article 2012 ftunivpadovairis https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0037110 2024-03-21T19:29:07Z The evolution of the cetacean skeleton followed a path that differentiated this group from other terrestrial mammals about 50 million years ago [1], and debate is still going on about the relationships between Cetacea and Artiodactyla [2,3,4]. Some skeletal traits of the basilosaurids (the more advanced forms of Archaeocetes), such as the expansion of the peribullary air sinuses, dental modification and vertebral size uniformity [5] are maintained and further emphasized also in contemporary odontocetes and mysticetes. Using Dual-Energy X-Ray Absorptiometry here we report that the deposition of bone mineral in fetal and newborn specimens of the fin whale Balaenoptera physalus is remarkably higher in the bulla tympanica than in the adjacent basal skull or in the rest of the skeleton. Ossification of the tympanic bulla in fetal Artiodactyla (bovine, hippopotamus) is minimal, becomes sensible after birth and then progresses during growth, contrarily to the precocious mineralization that we observed in fin whales. Given the importance of the ear bones for the precise identification of phylogenetic relationship in therian evolution [6], this feature may indicate a specific evolutionary trait of fin whales and possibly other cetacean species or families. Early mineralization of the tympanic bulla allows immediate sound conduction in the aquatic medium and consequently holds potential importance for mother-calf relationship and postnatal survival. Article in Journal/Newspaper Balaenoptera physalus Fin whale Padua Research Archive (IRIS - Università degli Studi di Padova) PLoS ONE 7 5 e37110 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
Padua Research Archive (IRIS - Università degli Studi di Padova) |
op_collection_id |
ftunivpadovairis |
language |
English |
topic |
X-RAY ABSORPTIOMETRY BONE-DENSITY CETACEANS |
spellingShingle |
X-RAY ABSORPTIOMETRY BONE-DENSITY CETACEANS COZZI, BRUNO MAZZARIOL, SANDRO ZOTTI, ALESSANDRO M. Podestà Fetal and Early Post-Natal Mineralization of the Tympanic Bulla in Fin Whales May Reveal a Hitherto Undiscovered Evolutionary Trait |
topic_facet |
X-RAY ABSORPTIOMETRY BONE-DENSITY CETACEANS |
description |
The evolution of the cetacean skeleton followed a path that differentiated this group from other terrestrial mammals about 50 million years ago [1], and debate is still going on about the relationships between Cetacea and Artiodactyla [2,3,4]. Some skeletal traits of the basilosaurids (the more advanced forms of Archaeocetes), such as the expansion of the peribullary air sinuses, dental modification and vertebral size uniformity [5] are maintained and further emphasized also in contemporary odontocetes and mysticetes. Using Dual-Energy X-Ray Absorptiometry here we report that the deposition of bone mineral in fetal and newborn specimens of the fin whale Balaenoptera physalus is remarkably higher in the bulla tympanica than in the adjacent basal skull or in the rest of the skeleton. Ossification of the tympanic bulla in fetal Artiodactyla (bovine, hippopotamus) is minimal, becomes sensible after birth and then progresses during growth, contrarily to the precocious mineralization that we observed in fin whales. Given the importance of the ear bones for the precise identification of phylogenetic relationship in therian evolution [6], this feature may indicate a specific evolutionary trait of fin whales and possibly other cetacean species or families. Early mineralization of the tympanic bulla allows immediate sound conduction in the aquatic medium and consequently holds potential importance for mother-calf relationship and postnatal survival. |
author2 |
Cozzi, Bruno M., Podestà Mazzariol, Sandro Zotti, Alessandro |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
COZZI, BRUNO MAZZARIOL, SANDRO ZOTTI, ALESSANDRO M. Podestà |
author_facet |
COZZI, BRUNO MAZZARIOL, SANDRO ZOTTI, ALESSANDRO M. Podestà |
author_sort |
COZZI, BRUNO |
title |
Fetal and Early Post-Natal Mineralization of the Tympanic Bulla in Fin Whales May Reveal a Hitherto Undiscovered Evolutionary Trait |
title_short |
Fetal and Early Post-Natal Mineralization of the Tympanic Bulla in Fin Whales May Reveal a Hitherto Undiscovered Evolutionary Trait |
title_full |
Fetal and Early Post-Natal Mineralization of the Tympanic Bulla in Fin Whales May Reveal a Hitherto Undiscovered Evolutionary Trait |
title_fullStr |
Fetal and Early Post-Natal Mineralization of the Tympanic Bulla in Fin Whales May Reveal a Hitherto Undiscovered Evolutionary Trait |
title_full_unstemmed |
Fetal and Early Post-Natal Mineralization of the Tympanic Bulla in Fin Whales May Reveal a Hitherto Undiscovered Evolutionary Trait |
title_sort |
fetal and early post-natal mineralization of the tympanic bulla in fin whales may reveal a hitherto undiscovered evolutionary trait |
publishDate |
2012 |
url |
http://hdl.handle.net/11577/2494850 https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0037110 |
genre |
Balaenoptera physalus Fin whale |
genre_facet |
Balaenoptera physalus Fin whale |
op_relation |
info:eu-repo/semantics/altIdentifier/pmid/22615912 info:eu-repo/semantics/altIdentifier/wos/WOS:000305341300073 volume:7 issue:5 firstpage:e37110 journal:PLOS ONE http://hdl.handle.net/11577/2494850 doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0037110 info:eu-repo/semantics/altIdentifier/scopus/2-s2.0-84861209131 |
op_rights |
info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0037110 |
container_title |
PLoS ONE |
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7 |
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5 |
container_start_page |
e37110 |
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