#balaenid

[naturalsciencesbelgium]

Paleontologists have described a new baleen whale species that swam around the North Sea some 3 million years ago. Antwerpibalaena liberatlas is an extinct cousin of the modern right whales. The well-preserved fossil skeleton was found in 2013 during the construction of the Kieldrecht Lock in the port of Antwerp. An extensive study of the anatomical differences now provides more insight into the evolution of the balaenid whales, which, due to a lack of well-described fossils, remained unclear until now.

In February 2013, paleontologist Stijn Goolaerts of the Royal Belgian Institute of Natural Sciences (RBINS) discovered a well-preserved fossil whale skeleton in the construction site of the Kieldrecht Lock in the Port of Antwerp. After an investigation by an international team led by Guillaume Duboys de Lavigerie (RBINS, University of Liège) and Felix Marx (Te Papa Museum, New Zealand) it turns out to be a completely new species of right whale that swam the waters near nowadays Antwerp some 3 million years ago.

Stiff neck and paddle-shaped flippers

Right whales and the bowhead whale belong to the family Balaenidae, a group of whales that evolved about 20 million years ago. They are the oldest group of baleen whales known today. But due to a lack of well-documented fossil finds, little is known about their evolution. The skeleton of Antwerpibalaena liberatlas now provides new information. Their 'stiff neck', for example. In today's right whales - the North Atlantic right whale, the North Pacific right whale and the Southern right whale - and the bowhead whale, the neck vertebrae are completely fused. This provides better support for the head, which takes up a third of the body length of the skim-feeders. Antwerpibalaena already had a sturdy neck, but not as pronounced as in right whales today: its atlas vertebra was still loose, hence its species name liberatlas.

The palaeontologists also note that Antwerpibalaena already had paddle-shaped flippers, another typical feature of the extant right whales.

Evolutionary yo-yo

Antwerpibalaena was between 9.5 and 12 meters long. The new find is significantly smaller than the recent representatives of the family (15 to 20 meters), but also smaller than some older right whales. So the evolution of the body size in these whales was not a straight line, from small to large, but a more complex story. “For now, it remains unclear why some right whale lineages were smaller. Perhaps because they lived in other marine regions, in shallower and more enclosed waters, or in relation to different feeding strategies”, says palaeontologist Olivier Lambert (RBINS), co-author of the study.

The new whale's name is dedicated the city of Antwerp, because the Antwerp subsoil is known as a true cetacean cemetery. After more than 150 years of excavation and research, scientists are still making important discoveries there.

The study is published in the journal Journal of Systematic Palaeontology.

[respectanimalrights]

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by KIMBERLY 🎬🐬 (@respectanimalsdontbuyaticket)

"Whale Wisdom" - 🔵@maestro320 's Notes: • "The saddest aspect of life right now is that science gathers knowledge faster than society gathers wisdom." - Isaac Asimov • This incredible footage is an excerpt from the Film Documentary "Whale Wisdom" filmed on location in the Baja California Peninsula courtesy of the Collaboratibe Efforts of Filmmakers and Marine Biologists Mark Romanov @mark.romanov , Erick Higuera @erick.higuera , Tom Piozet, Dan Evans and Rick Rosenthal. Directed by Rick Rosenthal @rickrosenthalocean Produced by Katya Shirokow and Presented by Legendary Broadcast Journalist and Naturalist, Executive Director of Fauna and Flora International @faunafloraint , Sir David Attenborough @david_attenborough • Whales are creatures of the open ocean; they feed, mate, give birth, suckle and raise their young at sea. So extreme is their adaptation to life underwater that they are unable to survive on land. Whales range in size from the 2.6 metres (8.5 ft) and 135 kilograms (298 lb) dwarf sperm whale to the 29.9 metres (98 ft) and 190 metric tons (210 short tons) blue whale, which is the largest known creature that has ever lived. The sperm whale is the largest toothed predator on earth. Several species exhibit sexual dimorphism, in that the females are larger than males. Baleen whales have no teeth; instead they have plates of baleen, a fringe-like structure used to expel water while retaining the krill and plankton which they feed on. They use their throat pleats to expand the mouth to take in huge gulps of water. Balaenids have heads that can make up 40% of their body mass to take in water. Toothed whales, on the other hand, have conical teeth adapted to catching fish or squid. Baleen whales have a well developed sense of "smell", whereas toothed whales have well-developed hearing − their hearing, that is adapted for both air and water, is so well developed that some can survive even if they are blind. Some species, such as sperm whales, are well adapted for diving to great depths to catch squid and other favoured prey. Whales have evolved from land-living mammals. (Continued in comments section at @maestro320 ) https://www.instagram.com/p/B5ulkVYhRaV/?igshid=zbsyu5xax3vd

[konnorgilbert]

SCUBA DIVING IN GOA : WHALE SPOTTED SCUBA DIVING IN INDIA, ARABIAN SEA GOA

Whales are creatures of the open ocean; they feed, mate, give birth, suckle and raise their young at sea. So extreme is their adaptation to life underwater that they are unable to survive on land. Whales range in size from the 2.6 metres (8.5 ft) and 135 kilograms (298 lb) dwarf sperm whale to the 29.9 metres (98 ft) and 190 metric tons (210 short tons) blue whale, which is the largest creature that has ever lived. The sperm whale is the largest toothed predator on earth. Several species exhibit sexual dimorphism, in that the females are larger than males. Baleen whales have no teeth; instead they have plates of baleen, a fringe-like structure used to expel water while retaining the krill and plankton which they feed on. They use their throat pleats to expand the mouth to take in huge gulps of water. Balaenids have heads that can make up 40% of their body mass to take in water. Toothed whales, on the other hand, have conical teeth designed for catching fish or squid. Baleen whales have a well developed sense of “smell”, whereas toothed whales have well-developed hearing − their hearing, that is adapted for both air and water, is so well developed that some can survive even if they are blind. Some species, such as sperm whales, are well adapted for diving to great depths to catch squid and other favoured prey.

Whales have evolved from land-living mammals. As such whales must breathe air regularly, although they can remain submerged under water for long periods of time. Some species such as the sperm whaleare able to stay submerged for as much as 90 minutes.[1] They have blowholes (modified nostrils) located on top of their heads, through which air is taken in and expelled. They are warm-blooded, and have a layer of fat, or blubber, under the skin. With streamlined fusiform bodies and two limbs that are modified into flippers, whales can travel at up to 20 knots, though they are not as flexible or agile as seals. Whales produce a great variety of vocalizations, notably the extended songs of the humpback whale. Although whales are widespread, most species prefer the colder waters of the Northern and Southern Hemispheres, and migrate to the equator to give birth. Species such as humpbacks and blue whales are capable of travelling thousands of miles without feeding. Males typically mate with multiple females every year, but females only mate every two to three years. Calves are typically born in the spring and summer months and females bear all the responsibility for raising them. Mothers of some species fast and nurse their young for one to two years.

Once relentlessly hunted for their products, whales are now protected by international law. The North Atlantic right whales nearly became extinct in the twentieth century, with a population low of 450, and the North Pacific grey whale population is ranked Critically Endangered by the IUCN. Besides whaling, they also face threats from bycatch and marine pollution. The meat, blubber and baleen of whales have traditionally been used by indigenous peoples of the Arctic. Whales have been depicted in various cultures worldwide, notably by the Inuit and the coastal peoples of Vietnam and Ghana, who sometimes hold whale funerals. Whales occasionally feature in literature and film, as in the great white whale of Herman Melville’s Moby Dick. Small whales, such as belugas, are sometimes kept in captivity and trained to perform tricks, but breeding success has been poor and the animals often die within a few months of capture. Whale watching has become a form of tourism around the world.

source

Source/Repost=> https://scubaflix.com/scuba-diving-in-goa-whale-spotted-scuba-diving-in-india-arabian-sea-goa/ ** ScubaFlix – Scuba Diver Videos ** https://scubaflix.com/

SCUBA DIVING IN GOA : WHALE SPOTTED SCUBA DIVING IN INDIA, ARABIAN SEA GOA via https://scubaflix.wordpress.com/