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Baleen whales can have streamlined or large bodies, depending on the feeding behavior, and two limbs that are modified into flippers. The fin whale is the fastest baleen whale, recorded swimming at 10 m/s (36 km/h; 22 mph). Baleen whales use their baleen plates to filter out food from the water by either lunge-feeding or skim-feeding
Letter c in the picture indicates the undeveloped hind legs of a baleen whale. Vestigial characters are present throughout the animal kingdom, and an almost endless list could be given. Darwin said that "it would be impossible to name one of the higher animals in which some part or other is not in a rudimentary condition."
Pelvic spurs (also known as vestigial legs) are external protrusions found around the cloaca in certain superfamilies of snakes belonging to the greater infraorder Alethinophidia. [1] These spurs are made up of the remnants of the femur bone, which is then covered by a corneal spur, or claw-like structure. [ 1 ]
Female beaked whales' teeth are hidden in the gums and are not visible, and most male beaked whales have only two short tusks. Narwhals have vestigial teeth other than their tusk, which is present on males and 15% of females and has millions of nerves to sense water temperature, pressure and salinity.
The earliest known ancestor of arctic whales is Denebola brachycephala from the late Miocene around 9–10 million years ago. [55] A single fossil from Baja California indicates the family once inhabited warmer waters. [27] [56] [57] Acrophyseter skull. Ancient sperm whales differ from modern sperm whales in tooth count and the shape of the ...
Whales are fully aquatic, open-ocean animals: they can feed, mate, give birth, suckle and raise their young at sea. Whales range in size from the 2.6 metres (8.5 ft) and 135 kilograms (298 lb) dwarf sperm whale to the 29.9 metres (98 ft) and 190 tonnes (210 short tons) blue whale, which is the
They also share the trait of being giant, flightless birds with vestigial wings, long legs, and long necks with the ratites, although they are not related. [104] [105] Certain longclaws (Macronyx) and meadowlarks (Sturnella) have essentially the same striking plumage pattern.
[51]: 446 The vestigial hind legs are enclosed inside the body. Rorquals need to build speed to feed, and have several adaptions for reducing drag, including a streamlined body; a small dorsal fin, relative to its size; and lack of external ears or hair. The fin whale, the fastest among baleen whales, can travel at 37 kilometers per hour (23 mph).