Morphological and thermal properties of mammalian insulation: the evolutionary transition to blubber in pinnipeds
نویسندگان
چکیده
Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of California, Santa Cruz, Long Marine Laboratory, 100 Shaffer Road, Santa Cruz, CA 95060, USA Department of Biology, San Diego State University, 5500 Campanile Drive, San Diego, CA 92182, USA Food Science Program, Department of Process Engineering and Applied Science, Dalhousie University, PO Box 1000, Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada, B3J 2X4
منابع مشابه
Morphological and thermal properties of mammalian insulation: the evolution of fur for aquatic living
Carnivora includes three independent evolutionary transitions to the marine environment: pinnipeds (seals, sea lions, and walruses), sea otters, and polar bears. All three lineages must contend with the thermal challenges of submersion in the marine environment. In the present study, we investigated changes in the fur associated with the transition from a terrestrial to an aquatic lifestyle, co...
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In Atlantic bottlenose dolphins Tursiops truncatus, both the thickness and lipid content of blubber vary across ontogeny and across individuals of differing reproductive and nutritional status. This study investigates how these changes in blubber morphology and composition influence its thermal properties. Thermal conductivity (W m(-1) deg.(-1), where deg. is degrees C) and thermal insulation (...
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Blubber, the specialized hypodermis of cetaceans, provides thermal insulation through the quantity and quality of lipids it contains. Quality refers to percent lipid content; however, not all lipids are the same. Certain deep-diving cetacean groups possess blubber with lipids - wax esters (WE) - that are not typically found in mammals, and the insulative quality of 'waxy' blubber is unknown. Ou...
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