rorquals

The rostrum in rorquals is long and tapers to a point (though it is comparatively broad in blue whales) and, in contrast to other mysticetes, a stout finger-like extension of the maxillary bone extends posteriorly, overlapping the nasals and abutting the supraoccipital (the shield-like plate that forms the rear margin of the skull).

Archive 2006-10-01 Darren Naish 2006

The rostrum in rorquals is long and tapers to a point (though it is comparatively broad in blue whales) and, in contrast to other mysticetes, a stout finger-like extension of the maxillary bone extends posteriorly, overlapping the nasals and abutting the supraoccipital (the shield-like plate that forms the rear margin of the skull).

From cigar to elongated, bloated tadpole: rorquals part II Darren Naish 2006

From cigar to elongated, bloated tadpole: rorquals part II

From cigar to elongated, bloated tadpole: rorquals part II Darren Naish 2006

Basing their reconstructions on beached carcasses, or on rorquals killed by whaling vessels, artists and scientists had previously thought that rorquals were stouter, with fat bellies and flabby throats.

A 6 ton model, and a baby that puts on 90 kg a day: rorquals part I Darren Naish 2006

The only other living balaenopterid** is the Humpback Megaptera novaeangliae, and it is generally regarded as the sister-taxon to the rorquals.

A 6 ton model, and a baby that puts on 90 kg a day: rorquals part I Darren Naish 2006

Darren Naish: Tetrapod Zoology: A 6 ton model, and a baby that puts on 90 kg a day: rorquals part I

A 6 ton model, and a baby that puts on 90 kg a day: rorquals part I Darren Naish 2006

More on rorquals in the next post, this time focusing on the biomechanics of feeding: From cigar to elongated, bloated tadpole: rorquals part II.

A 6 ton model, and a baby that puts on 90 kg a day: rorquals part I Darren Naish 2006

Thanks – mostly – to aerial photography, most of us are now familiar with the true body shape of live rorquals.

A 6 ton model, and a baby that puts on 90 kg a day: rorquals part I Darren Naish 2006

Darren Naish: Tetrapod Zoology: From cigar to elongated, bloated tadpole: rorquals part II

From cigar to elongated, bloated tadpole: rorquals part II Darren Naish 2006

We all know that rorquals are big, that they possess baleen, and that they feed by engulfing crustaceans, small fish and other prey.

A 6 ton model, and a baby that puts on 90 kg a day: rorquals part I Darren Naish 2006