Search results
Results from the WOW.Com Content Network
The whale then pushes the water out, and animals such as krill are filtered by the baleen and remain as a food source for the whale. Baleen is similar to bristles and consists of keratin, the same substance found in human fingernails, skin and hair. Baleen is a skin derivative. Some whales, such as the bowhead whale, have
A blue whale with its bow wave, showing the blowhole. The blue whale is a slender-bodied cetacean with a broad U-shaped head; thin, elongated flippers; a small 33 centimeters (13 in) sickle-shaped dorsal fin located close to the tail, and a large tail stock at the root of the wide and thin flukes.
Accurate measurements of the blue whale are difficult to take because the whale's erect length can only be observed during mating. [119] The penis on a right whale can be up to 2.7 m (8.9 ft) – the testes , at up to 2 m (6.6 ft) in length, 78 cm (2.56 ft) in diameter, and weighing up to 238 kg (525 lb), are also the largest of any animal on ...
Diagram featuring the typical skeletal of a toothed whale (top) and a baleen whale (bottom) The cetacean skeleton is largely made up of cortical bone , which stabilizes the animal in the water. For this reason, the usual terrestrial compact bones, which are finely woven cancellous bone , are replaced with lighter and more elastic material.
The femur is the longest bone in humans. The longest bone in the human body is the femur. [23] The largest artery is the aorta [24] and the largest vein is the inferior vena cava. [25] The largest internal organ (by mass) is the liver, with an average of 1.6 kilograms (3.5 pounds). [26]
Close up skeletal of fin whale flipper. Whales and their relatives have a soft tissue flipper that encases most of the forelimb, and elongated digits with an increased number of phalanges. [9] Hyperphalangy is an increase in the number of phalanges beyond the plesiomorphic mammal condition of three phalanges-per-digit. [10]
Get AOL Mail for FREE! Manage your email like never before with travel, photo & document views. Personalize your inbox with themes & tabs. You've Got Mail!
A spouting whale is a major attraction in the Japanese Nagasaki Kunchi festival, which has been taking place since the early 17th century. [11] It has been depicted in Western painting by Wenceslaus Hollar (1620s–30s), [ 12 ] William James Linton (1830s), [ 13 ] and William Morris Hunt (c. 1870). [ 14 ]