Background:
Whales are secondarily aquatic mammals that move efficiently in water, but much is still unknown about the evolution of their hydrodynamic body. The spine and the tail fluke drive forward motion, which means that vertebrae in different spinal regions will be subject to different physical forces. These forces are reflected in inner bone microanatomy, which is thus an ideal data source to understand swimming. In this project, you will gather such data from a baleen whale, which has not been done previously.
Research aims:
- Map microanatomical changes throughout a minke whale vertebral skeleton
- Assess how microanatomical parameters reflect swimming in minke whales
- Compare the minke whale to extinct whales and modern toothed whales
Method:
In this project, you will make three-dimensional CT scans of an entire minke whale spine, and gather microanatomical data from each centrum, which can be used to understand more about minke whale movements. Secondly, this can be compared to existing data on toothed whales and fossil whales, that used different swimming styles. You will learn to use the scanner, process the output data, and gather and compare microanatomical parameters across 50 million years of whale evolution.
This project is located at the Natural History Museum.