The bony labyrinth of toothed whales reflects both phylogeny and habitat preferences

Scientific Reports
Loïc CosteurBastien Mennecart

Abstract

The inner ear of toothed whales (odontocetes) is known to have evolved particular shapes related to their abilities to echolocate and move under water. While the origin of these capacities is now more and more examined, thanks to new imaging techniques, little is still known about how informative inner ear shape could be to tackle phylogenetic issues or questions pertaining to the habitat preferences of extinct species. Here we show that the shape of the bony labyrinth of toothed whales provides key information both about phylogeny and habitat preferences (freshwater versus coastal and fully marine habitats). Our investigation of more than 20 species of extinct and modern odontocetes shows that the semi-circular canals are not very informative, in contrast to baleen whales, while the cochlea alone bears a strong signal. Inner ear shape thus provides a novel source of information to distinguish between morphologically convergent lineages (e.g. river dolphins).

References

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Oct 17, 2017·Scientific Reports·Bastien MennecartLoïc Costeur
Feb 6, 2018·Scientific Reports·Camille GrohéJohn J Flynn

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Citations

Aug 18, 2018·Journal of Morphology·Cathrin PfaffRico Schellhorn
Apr 18, 2019·Journal of Anatomy·Menelia Vasilopoulou-KampitsiPeter Aerts
May 16, 2019·Biology Letters·Rachel A RacicotJonathan H Geisler
Mar 4, 2020·ELife·Alessandro UrciuoliDavid M Alba
Jan 13, 2019·Scientific Reports·Julia A SchwabCathrin Pfaff
Oct 28, 2019·BMC Evolutionary Biology·Travis ParkNatalie Cooper
Dec 22, 2020·Journal of Anatomy·Emilie BerliozThomas Lehmann
Jan 13, 2021·The Anatomical Record : Advances in Integrative Anatomy and Evolutionary Biology·Hiroto IchishimaHiroshi Sawamura
Sep 22, 2021·The Anatomical Record : Advances in Integrative Anatomy and Evolutionary Biology·Rachel Racicot

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