Thursday, January 29, 2009

the Cetacea

Marchman, Iralu and Candler, here with a bottlenose dolphin stranded on Cumberland Island back in December. The lengthening of the rostral bone in whales and dolphins is one of the key pieces of osteological gymnastics that makes blowholes possible. Getting your nostrils to open on top of your head takes practice. Deleting your pelvis is also a significant move. Mosasaurs, ichthyosaurs and cetaceans all did it at one time or another.

3 comments:

  1. ... sorry Hesley ... he's pretty much totally dead in this picture. don't worry, it's just taphonomy. there are a lot of dolphins still having fun.

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