. Scientists from Stanford University in Stanford University and the Smithsonian Institution in America have discovered that Rorqual Whales can have nerves as flexible and elastic as bungee ropes. The blue whale is the most massive animal to ever live, along with the fin whale and northern minke whale. These huge creatures are capable of creating a large pocket between their bodies and their blubber in order to swallow prey while they dive for food. Current Biology published the findings of the research team. Image: www.cell.com Wayne Vogl from UBC’s Cellular and Physiological Sciences division said that the findings were published in Current Biology. The largest baleen whale group, the rorquals are the most famous. Their nerve cells are packed within a core so that no nerve fiber is ever stretched. Instead, it just unfolds. Robert Shadwick (UBC Zoologist) said that “our next step is getting a better understanding how the nerve core folds to allow it rapid unpacking, and repacking during its feeding process.” Fin whale feeding dive. Expansion of ventral grooved Blubber. Image: University of British Columbia. Does this characteristic exist in other animals? Scientists are not sure if similar features exist in animals. The bungee-cord-like nerves that are found in chameleon tongues or the ballooning throats frogs may be similar to those of other animals. Nick Pyenson was a UBC postdoctoral researcher and now works at Smithsonian’s National Museum of Natural History. He said that he used to work at UBC. Photo: University of British Columbia. Citation: “Stretchy nervouss are an integral component of the extreme eating mechanism of rorqual Whales,” A. Wayne Vogl and Margo A. Lillie. Marina A. Piscitelli. Jeremy A. Goldbogen. Nicholas D. Pyenson. Robert E. Shadwick. Biology Letters. Published May 4, DOI: 10.1016/j.cub.2015.03. 007.
