These items are 3D prints of an ear wax plug from a Fin Whale. Fin Whales belong to the group of baleen whales (whales with baleen plates that serve as teeth, which help them feed on tiny plankton). These whales build up the wax in their ear canals over time, which creates the earplug. The earplugs can be used as an aging tool, as indicators of the specimen's health and stress levels, and as indicators of the health of the specimen's ecosystem, through chemical markers that are present in the earwax. One of the 3D prints is green in color and measures approximately 11 cm x 4 cm x 2 cm in size. Another print is also green and measures 17.5 cm x 6.5 cm x 3 cm. A third print is gray in color and measures 11 cm x 4 cm x 2 cm.
- Catalog Number:
- 401759
- Object/Specimen Description:
- Specimen Count:
- 3
- Preparation Type:
- Cast
- Upper Level Taxonomy:
- Animalia, Chordata, Vertebrata, Tetrapoda, Mammalia, Eutheria, Cetacea, Mysticeti, Balaenopteridae
Cetaceans evolved from land mammals about 50 million years ago, making the transition to water through a variety of adaptations. A modern cetacean is so streamlined for swimming that it looks like a fish, despite its terrestrial origins. Its head is connected smoothly to its body, with no neck or shoulders showing. Nothing sticks out of a cetacean's body other than fins and a tail. External ears have been replaced by holes leading to inner ears. Male reproductive organs and female teats are housed behind slits. Cetaceans have body hair during development, but lose it as adults, even though they live in extremely cold water. Instead of insulating hair, they rely on a suit of body fat (blubber) just under their skin. Cetaceans include the largest mammal ever to have lived on earth (the blue whale), thanks to the support that water provides. Air, less dense than water, could never support a land animal the size of a whale.