Photos Strange Ribcage
Keig also mentioned that two ribs from the upper ribcage broke, and then roughly healed, sometime during the 7.5-foot-long infant whale's short life. She suspects they broke when the six-month-old whale was stranded at Spirit's Bay in northern New Zealand, where it eventually died. "We do not know the exact cause of death because our scientists performed a necropsy and not an autopsy," she said. "There are many possible causes for stranding." One possibility, for example, is that the young whale became weakened and disoriented by a bacterial infection. Brian Beatty, an assistant professor of anatomy at the New York College of Osteopathic Medicine, recently conducted one of the largest ever studies of modern and fossil whalebones. Beatty told Discovery News that the analysis of the pygmy right whale is important because this species "is an unusual animal," even among the already unusual baleens. Baleen whales, as opposed to toothed whales, feed by filtering water across a large, comb-like baleen structure. "Being such a rare animal and hardly understood in terms of its anatomy and histology, this new specimen will significantly add to our understanding of the relationships between the modern baleen whales," Beatty said. Although the official necropsy on the whale has ended, Keig said Te Papa scientists are still stripping the bones of flesh and muscle. Eventually the skeleton will go on display at the museum. Related Links: Jennifer Viegas' blog: Born Animal |
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