General information
Drawing of a bowhead whale skeleton. Drawing by Craig George and Hans Thewissen
Drawing of skeleton including placement of some of the internal organs. By Craig George and Hans Thewissen
Links
- The Thewissen Lab: Whale Origins Research – Presentation of research conducted by the laboratory of Dr. Hans Thewissen of NEOUCOM (Northeastern Ohio Universities Colleges of Medicine and Pharmacy). Dr. Thewissen discovered a missing link between whales and their four-footed terrestrial ancestors. More information can be found on Dr. Thewissen Facebook page.
- Greenland Whale Pelvis – A clip art image of a Greenland whale (close relative to the bowhead) pelvis for students to cut out.
Bowhead whale femur (smaller bone) and pelvis (larger bone) from bowhead whale. Photo: Craig George
Publications:
- Haldiman, J.T., et al. 1985. Epidermal and papillary dermal characteristics of the bowhead whale (Balaena mysticetus). Anat. Rec. 211:391-402.
- Tarpley, R.J., et al. 1987. Observations on the anatomy of the stomach and duodenum of the bowhead whale, Balaena mysticetus. Am. J. Anat. 180:295-322.
- Burns, J.J., J.J Montague and C.J. Cowles (eds.). 1993. The Bowhead Whale. Special publication No. 2 of the Society of Marine Mammalogy. i-xxxvi + 787pp.
- Haldiman, J.T. and Tarpley, R.T. 1993. Anatomy and Physiology. In: J.J. Burns and J.J Montague and C.J. Cowles (eds.). The Bowhead Whale. Special publication No. 2 of the Society of Marine Mammalogy. i-xxxvi + 787pp.
- Willetto, C., O’Hara, T., Rowles, T. 2002. Bowhead Whale Health and Physiology Workshop, 2002. Barrow, AK. 129 pp.
- Ford, T.J., A.J. Werth, J.C. George. 2013. An intraoral thermoregulatory organ in the bowhead whale (Balaena mysticetus), the corpus cavernosum maxillaris. The Anatomical Record 296(4):701-708.
- Moran, M.M., et al. 2014. Intervertebral and epiphyseal fusion in the postnatal ontogeny of cetaceans and terrestrial mammals. Journal of Mammalian Evolution DOI 10.1007/s10914-014-9256-7.
- Schoenfuss, H.L, H.H. Bragulla, J. Schumacher, W.G Henk, J. C. George, D.J. Hillmann. 2014. The anatomy of the larynx of the bowhead whale, Balaena mysticetus, and its sound-producing functions. The Anatomical Record Advances in Integrative Anatomy and Evolutionary Biology 297(7):1316-1330.
- Ball, H.C. et al. 2015. Seasonal and ontogenetic variation in subcutaneous adipose of the bowhead whale (Balaena mysticetus). Anatomical Record 298(8):1416-23.
- George, J.C., R. Stimmelmayr, R. Suydam, S. Usip, G. Givens, T. Sformo, J. G. M. Thewissen. 2016. Severe bone loss as part of the life history strategy of bowhead whales. PLoS ONE 11(6):e0156753. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0156753.
- Werth, A.J. and J. Potvin. 2016. Baleen hydrodynamics and morphology of cross-flow filtration in Balaenid Whale suspension feeding. PLoS One 11(2): e0150106. doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0150106.
- Rehorek, S.J., et al. 2019. Whale tear glands in the bowhead and the beluga whales: Source and function. Journal of Morphology, DOI:10.1002.jmor.21099.
- Miller, C.A., Holm, H.C., Horstmann, L., George, J.C., Fredricks, H.F., Van Mooy, B.A.S., Apprill, A. 2020. Coordinated transformation of the gut microbiome and lipidome of bowhead whales provides novel insights into digestion. ISME Journal, 14:688–701. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41396-019-0549-y.
- Werth, A.J., T.L. Sformo, N.S. Lysiak, D. Rita, J.C. George. 2020. Baleen turnover and gut transit in mysticete whales and its environmental implications. Polar Biology 43:707-723, DOI:10.1007/s00300-020-02673-8.