12/29/2023 0 Comments Baleen whaleThe illustration highlights the measurements taken by the researchers, including the length of the plate, the thickness of the plate, the spacing between the plates and the diameter of the fringe.īaleen whales have a keratinous oral tissue - the same protein as a human’s fingernail and hair - that hangs down from the roof of the whale’s mouth in bilaterally symmetrical racks, Kahane-Rapport explained. This illustration shows the placement of baleen in a blue whale, with the baleen plates hanging down from the gums, and the fringe along one side that forms the mat for filtration of food, such as small krill, from seawater. Her research also includes working with Paig-Tran on the biomechanics of other large filter-feeding animals like manta rays. She recently was awarded a National Science Foundation Postdoctoral Research Fellowship in Biology to continue her research at CSUF for the next two years. In August, she’ll present at the Society of Marine Mammalogy conference in Palm Beach, Florida. In early July, Kahane-Rapport presented her research at the Society of Experimental Biology international conference in Montpellier, France. This particular family of whales consists of the blue whale (the largest of all whales and the largest animal of all time), fin whale, humpback whale, gray whale and minke whale. Their research aims to define how body size affects the biomechanics and the anatomical structures involved in water flow and prey capture of five species of rorquals, a family of baleen whales. Lead researcher Kahane-Rapport is conducting the study in collaboration with researchers at Stanford University, where she earned her doctorate in June 2021, and the University of Washington. Shirel Kahane-Rapport holds baleen, a keratinous oral tissue that hangs down from the roof of the whale’s mouth. “Studying how large animals filter tiny organisms gives us great insight into building better and more efficient filters for human use.” But it’s amazing how little we know about some of the biggest and most charismatic animals on the planet,” Paig-Tran said. Paig-Tran’s FABB (Functional Anatomy, Biomechanics and Biomaterials) Lab uses a blend of anatomy and engineering techniques to answer biological questions about performance in marine animals. Kahane-Rapport is conducting her study under the mentorship of Misty Paig-Tran, associate professor of biological science. The answers could lead to better engineered industrial filtration systems. How do giant, toothless baleen whales filter thousands of pounds of tiny shrimp after gulping seawater?Ĭal State Fullerton postdoctoral scholar Shirel Kahane-Rapport is diving into the biomechanics of these filter-feeders and how they use baleen plates to filter food, such as zooplankton and small fish, from seawater.
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