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Gavazzi L, Cooper LN, Usip S, Suydam R, Stimmelmayr R, George JC, O'Corry-Crowe G, Hsu CW, Thewissen J. Comparative embryology of Delphinapterus leucas (beluga whale), Balaena mysticetus (bowhead whale), and Stenella attenuata (pan-tropical spotted dolphin) (Cetacea: Mammalia). J Morphol 2023; 284:e21543. [PMID: 36538588 PMCID: PMC10107513 DOI: 10.1002/jmor.21543] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/15/2022] [Revised: 10/04/2022] [Accepted: 12/03/2022] [Indexed: 12/24/2022]
Abstract
Embryogenesis of cetaceans (whales, dolphins, porpoises) is best known in Stenella attenuata, the pan-tropical spotted dolphin, based on a remarkably complete and well-studied prenatal ontogenetic series. Our study expands understanding of cetacean embryology by adding two additional cetacean taxa: the beluga whale (Delphinapterus leucas, Odontoceti), and the bowhead whale (Balaena mysticetus, Mysticeti). We identify key features that characterize these taxa at specific stages and highlight heterochrony between the odontocetes and mysticetes. The toothed whales are more similar in developmental timing to each other than either is to Balaena. The two odontocete taxa, Stenella and Delphinapterus, share similar developmental trajectories while early Balaena specimens differ from the odontocetes. This developmental variation proves challenging to ascribe to the existing Carnegie staging system. Most notably, flippers, hindlimbs, and flukes all provide morphological traits for characterization within the Carnegie staging system. A presomitic Delphinapterus embryo is also described. This study applies the Carnegie staging system to two more cetacean taxa and forms a framework for future research on cetacean developmental genetics and the modeling of fetal growth.
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Affiliation(s)
- Lia Gavazzi
- School of Biomedical Sciences, Kent State University, Kent, Ohio, USA.,Musculoskeletal Research Focus Area, Department of Anatomy and Neurobiology, Northeast Ohio Medical University, Rootstown, Ohio, USA
| | - Lisa N Cooper
- Musculoskeletal Research Focus Area, Department of Anatomy and Neurobiology, Northeast Ohio Medical University, Rootstown, Ohio, USA
| | - Sharon Usip
- Musculoskeletal Research Focus Area, Department of Anatomy and Neurobiology, Northeast Ohio Medical University, Rootstown, Ohio, USA
| | - Robert Suydam
- Department of Wildlife Management, North Slope Borough, Barrow, Alaska, USA
| | - Raphaela Stimmelmayr
- Department of Wildlife Management, North Slope Borough, Barrow, Alaska, USA.,Institute of Arctic Biology, University of Alaska Fairbanks, Fairbanks, Alaska, USA
| | - John C George
- Department of Wildlife Management, North Slope Borough, Barrow, Alaska, USA
| | - Greg O'Corry-Crowe
- Harbor Branch Oceanographic Institute, Florida Atlantic University, Fort Pierce, Florida, USA
| | - Chih-Wei Hsu
- Department of Molecular Physiology and Biophysics, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, Texas, USA
| | - Johannes Thewissen
- Musculoskeletal Research Focus Area, Department of Anatomy and Neurobiology, Northeast Ohio Medical University, Rootstown, Ohio, USA
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Frainer G, Huggenberger S, Moreno IB, Plön S, Galatius A. Head adaptation for sound production and feeding strategy in dolphins (Odontoceti: Delphinida). J Anat 2021; 238:1070-1081. [PMID: 33319356 PMCID: PMC8053589 DOI: 10.1111/joa.13364] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/17/2020] [Revised: 10/29/2020] [Accepted: 11/02/2020] [Indexed: 01/01/2023] Open
Abstract
Head morphology in toothed whales evolved under selective pressures on feeding strategy and sound production. The postnatal development of the skull (n = 207) and mandible (n = 219) of six Delphinida species which differ in feeding strategy but exhibit similar sound emission patterns, including two narrow-band high-frequency species, were investigated through 3D morphometrics. Morphological changes throughout ontogeny were demonstrated based on the main source of variation (i.e., prediction lines) and the common allometric component. Multivariate trajectory analysis with pairwise comparisons between all species was performed to evaluate specific differences on the postnatal development of skulls and mandibles. Changes in the rostrum formation contributed to the variation (skull: 49%; mandible: 90%) of the entire data set and might not only reflect the feeding strategy adopted by each lineage but also represents an adaptation for sound production and reception. As an important structure for directionality of sound emissions, this may increase directionality in raptorial feeders. Phylogenetic generalized least squares analyses indicated that shape of the anterior portion of the skull is strongly dependent on phylogeny and might not only reflect feeding mode, but also morphological adaptations for sound production, particularly in raptorial species. Thus, postnatal development seems to represent a crucial stage for biosonar maturation in some raptorial species such as Pontoporia blainvillei and Sousa plumbea. The ontogeny of their main tool for navigation and hunting might reflect their natural history peculiarities and thus potentially define their main vulnerabilities to anthropogenic changes in the environment.
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Affiliation(s)
- Guilherme Frainer
- Programa de Pós-Graduação em Biologia Animal, Departamento de Zoologia, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul, Porto Alegre, Brazil
| | | | - Ignacio B Moreno
- Programa de Pós-Graduação em Biologia Animal, Departamento de Zoologia, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul, Porto Alegre, Brazil.,Centro de Estudos Costeiros, Limnológicos e Marinhos (CECLIMAR/CLN/UFRGS), Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul, Imbé, Brazil
| | - Stephanie Plön
- Bayworld Centre for Research and Education (BCRE), Port Elizabeth, South Africa
| | - Anders Galatius
- Marine Mammal Research, Department of Bioscience, Aarhus University, Roskilde, Denmark
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Frainer G, Moreno IB, Serpa N, Galatius A, Wiedermann D, Huggenberger S. Ontogeny and evolution of the sound-generating structures in the infraorder Delphinida (Odontoceti: Delphinida). Biol J Linn Soc Lond 2019. [DOI: 10.1093/biolinnean/blz118] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/13/2022]
Abstract
AbstractThe ontogeny of the structures involved in sound generation and modulation in dolphins was investigated through a comparison of the soft nasal structures of foetal, perinatal, neonatal and adult specimens of Pontoporiidae, Phocoenidae and Delphinidae. Foetal samples were sectioned at 10 µm in the saggital and coronal planes, and stained for histological examination. Computed tomography and magentic resonance imaging scan series were combined with new data to represent the ontogenetic stages of the three groups. The images were analysed in 3D-Slicer to characterize the general head topography. The origins of the melon and the vestibular air sac were detected between Carnegie stages C16 and F22. The three groups analysed showed distinct formation of the nasal plug and nasal plug muscles, mainly with regard to the loss of fat pathways (or their maintenance in Pontoporiidae) and the development of the nasal plug muscles on both sides (during perinatal development of Phocoenidae) or just on the left side (during postnatal development in Delphinidae). Broadband vocalizing delphinidans might have evolved under heterochronic events acting on the formation of sound-generating structures such as the rostrum and vestibular air sacs, and on the transformation of the branches of the melon, probably leading to a reduced directionality of the sonar beam.
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Affiliation(s)
- Guilherme Frainer
- Programa de Pós-Graduação em Biologia Animal, Departamento de Zoologia, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul, Porto Alegre, Brazil
- Centro de Estudos Costeiros, Limnológicos e Marinhos (CECLIMAR/UFRGS), Campus Litoral Norte, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul, Imbé, Brazil
- Department II of Anatomy, University of Cologne, Cologne, Germany
| | - Ignacio B Moreno
- Programa de Pós-Graduação em Biologia Animal, Departamento de Zoologia, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul, Porto Alegre, Brazil
- Centro de Estudos Costeiros, Limnológicos e Marinhos (CECLIMAR/UFRGS), Campus Litoral Norte, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul, Imbé, Brazil
| | - Nathalia Serpa
- Programa de Pós-Graduação em Biologia Animal, Departamento de Zoologia, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul, Porto Alegre, Brazil
- Centro de Estudos Costeiros, Limnológicos e Marinhos (CECLIMAR/UFRGS), Campus Litoral Norte, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul, Imbé, Brazil
| | - Anders Galatius
- Department of Bioscience, Aarhus University, Roskilde, Denmark
| | - Dirk Wiedermann
- Max Planck Institute for Metabolism Research, Cologne, Germany
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Flores DA, del Castillo D, Yamada T. Postnatal cranial growth of Risso’s dolphin (Grampus griseus). MAMMALIA 2017. [DOI: 10.1515/mammalia-2016-0052] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/15/2022]
Abstract
AbstractThe short-nosed Risso’s dolphin (
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del Castillo DL, Viglino M, Flores DA, Cappozzo HL. Skull ontogeny and modularity in two species ofLagenorhynchus: Morphological and ecological implications. J Morphol 2016; 278:203-214. [DOI: 10.1002/jmor.20629] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/20/2016] [Revised: 09/28/2016] [Accepted: 10/21/2016] [Indexed: 11/10/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Daniela L. del Castillo
- Laboratorio de Ecología, Comportamiento y Mamíferos Marinos, División Mastozoología; Museo Argentino de Ciencias Naturales “Bernardino Rivadavia”; Av. Ángel Gallardo 470 (C1405DJR) Buenos Aires Argentina
- CONICET. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; Argentina
| | - Mariana Viglino
- CONICET. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; Argentina
- Instituto Patagónico de Geología y Paleontología, CCT CONICET-CENPAT; Boulevard Brown 2915 (U9120ACD) Puerto Madryn Chubut Argentina
| | - David A. Flores
- CONICET. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; Argentina
- Unidad Ejecutora Lillo, CONICET-Fundación Miguel Lillo; Miguel Lillo 251 Tucumán 4000 Argentina
- Instituto de Vertebrados, Fundación Miguel Lillo; Miguel Lillo 251 (CP4000) Tucumán Argentina
| | - Humberto L. Cappozzo
- Laboratorio de Ecología, Comportamiento y Mamíferos Marinos, División Mastozoología; Museo Argentino de Ciencias Naturales “Bernardino Rivadavia”; Av. Ángel Gallardo 470 (C1405DJR) Buenos Aires Argentina
- CONICET. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; Argentina
- Centro de Estudios Biomédicos, Biotecnológicos, Ambientales y Diagnóstico, Departamento de Ciencias Naturales y Antropología; Fundación Azara, Universidad Maimonides; Hidalgo 775 7mo (C1405BDB) Buenos Aires Argentina
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Neuroanatomy of the killer whale (Orcinus orca): a magnetic resonance imaging investigation of structure with insights on function and evolution. Brain Struct Funct 2016; 222:417-436. [PMID: 27119362 DOI: 10.1007/s00429-016-1225-x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/01/2015] [Accepted: 04/07/2016] [Indexed: 12/18/2022]
Abstract
The evolutionary process of adaptation to an obligatory aquatic existence dramatically modified cetacean brain structure and function. The brain of the killer whale (Orcinus orca) may be the largest of all taxa supporting a panoply of cognitive, sensory, and sensorimotor abilities. Despite this, examination of the O. orca brain has been limited in scope resulting in significant deficits in knowledge concerning its structure and function. The present study aims to describe the neural organization and potential function of the O. orca brain while linking these traits to potential evolutionary drivers. Magnetic resonance imaging was used for volumetric analysis and three-dimensional reconstruction of an in situ postmortem O. orca brain. Measurements were determined for cortical gray and cerebral white matter, subcortical nuclei, cerebellar gray and white matter, corpus callosum, hippocampi, superior and inferior colliculi, and neuroendocrine structures. With cerebral volume comprising 81.51 % of the total brain volume, this O. orca brain is one of the most corticalized mammalian brains studied to date. O. orca and other delphinoid cetaceans exhibit isometric scaling of cerebral white matter with increasing brain size, a trait that violates an otherwise evolutionarily conserved cerebral scaling law. Using comparative neurobiology, it is argued that the divergent cerebral morphology of delphinoid cetaceans compared to other mammalian taxa may have evolved in response to the sensorimotor demands of the aquatic environment. Furthermore, selective pressures associated with the evolution of echolocation and unihemispheric sleep are implicated in substructure morphology and function. This neuroanatomical dataset, heretofore absent from the literature, provides important quantitative data to test hypotheses regarding brain structure, function, and evolution within Cetacea and across Mammalia.
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Yamato M, Pyenson ND. Early development and orientation of the acoustic funnel provides insight into the evolution of sound reception pathways in cetaceans. PLoS One 2015; 10:e0118582. [PMID: 25760328 PMCID: PMC4356564 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0118582] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/05/2014] [Accepted: 01/20/2015] [Indexed: 11/18/2022] Open
Abstract
Whales receive underwater sounds through a fundamentally different mechanism than their close terrestrial relatives. Instead of hearing through the ear canal, cetaceans hear through specialized fatty tissues leading to an evolutionarily novel feature: an acoustic funnel located anterior to the tympanic aperture. We traced the ontogenetic development of this feature in 56 fetal specimens from 10 different families of toothed (odontocete) and baleen (mysticete) whales, using X-ray computed tomography. We also charted ear ossification patterns through ontogeny to understand the impact of heterochronic developmental processes. We determined that the acoustic funnel arises from a prominent V-shaped structure established early in ontogeny, formed by the malleus and the goniale. In odontocetes, this V-formation develops into a cone-shaped funnel facing anteriorly, directly into intramandibular acoustic fats, which is likely functionally linked to the anterior orientation of sound reception in echolocation. In contrast, the acoustic funnel in balaenopterids rotates laterally, later in fetal development, consistent with a lateral sound reception pathway. Balaenids and several fossil mysticetes retain a somewhat anteriorly oriented acoustic funnel in the mature condition, indicating that a lateral sound reception pathway in balaenopterids may be a recent evolutionary innovation linked to specialized feeding modes, such as lunge-feeding.
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Affiliation(s)
- Maya Yamato
- Departments of Vertebrate Zoology and Paleobiology, National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, District of Columbia, United States of America
- Department of Paleobiology, National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, District of Columbia, United States of America
| | - Nicholas D. Pyenson
- Department of Paleobiology, National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, District of Columbia, United States of America
- Departments of Mammalogy and Paleontology, Burke Museum of Natural History and Culture, Seattle, Washington, United States of America
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Cozzi B, Podestà M, Vaccaro C, Poggi R, Mazzariol S, Huggenberger S, Zotti A. Precocious Ossification of the Tympanoperiotic Bone in Fetal and Newborn Dolphins: An Evolutionary Adaptation to the Aquatic Environment? Anat Rec (Hoboken) 2015; 298:1294-300. [DOI: 10.1002/ar.23120] [Citation(s) in RCA: 14] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/23/2014] [Accepted: 12/01/2014] [Indexed: 11/08/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Bruno Cozzi
- Department of Comparative Biomedicine and Food Science; University of Padova; Legnaro (PD) 35020 Italy
| | | | - Calogero Vaccaro
- Department of Animal Medicine, Production and Health; University of Padova; Legnaro (PD) 35020 Italy
| | - Roberto Poggi
- Civic Museum of Natural History “G; Doria,”; Genova 16121 Italy
| | - Sandro Mazzariol
- Department of Comparative Biomedicine and Food Science; University of Padova; Legnaro (PD) 35020 Italy
| | | | - Alessandro Zotti
- Department of Animal Medicine, Production and Health; University of Padova; Legnaro (PD) 35020 Italy
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