title: Seasonal and Ontogenetic Variation in Subcutaneous Adipose Of the Bowhead Whale (Balaena mysticetus).
abstract: Cetacean evolution was shaped by an extraordinary land-to-sea transition in which the ancestors of whales became fully aquatic. As part of this transition, these mammals evolved unusually thick blubber which acts as a metabolic reservoir as well as an insulator and provides buoyancy and streamlining. This study describes blubber stratification and correlates it to seasonal variation, feeding patterns, and ontogeny in an arctic-adapted mysticete, the bowhead whale (Balaena mysticetus). Bowheads are unique among mammals for possessing the largest known blubber stores. We found that adipocyte numbers in bowheads, like other mammals, do not vary with season or feeding pattern but that adipocyte size and structural fiber densities do vary with blubber depth.
authors.affiliation: Department of Biology, The University of Akron, Akron, Ohio.|Department of Anatomy and Neurobiology, Northeast Ohio Medical University, Rootstown, Ohio.
authors.forename: Hope C
authors.initials: HC
authors.lastname: Ball
authors.affiliation: Department of Biology, The University of Akron, Akron, Ohio.
authors.forename: Madeline
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Stavarz
authors.affiliation: Department of Biology, The University of Akron, Akron, Ohio.
authors.forename: Jonathan
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Oldaker
authors.affiliation: Department of Anatomy and Neurobiology, Northeast Ohio Medical University, Rootstown, Ohio.
authors.forename: Sharon
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Usip
authors.affiliation: Department of Biology, The University of Akron, Akron, Ohio.
authors.forename: Richard L
authors.initials: RL
authors.lastname: Londraville
authors.affiliation: North Slope Borough Department of Wildlife Management, Barrow, Alaska.
authors.forename: John C
authors.initials: JC
authors.lastname: George
authors.affiliation: Department of Anatomy and Neurobiology, Northeast Ohio Medical University, Rootstown, Ohio.
authors.forename: Johnannes G M
authors.initials: JG
authors.lastname: Thewissen
authors.affiliation: Department of Biology, The University of Akron, Akron, Ohio.
authors.forename: Robert Joel
authors.initials: RJ
authors.lastname: Duff
mesh_terms: D000222:Adaptation, Physiological; D017667:Adipocytes / Q000166:cytology*; D000367:Age Factors; D000818:Animals; D001344:Autopsy; D005075:Biological Evolution; D050642:Bowhead Whale / Q000033:anatomy & histology* / Q000523:psychology; D048429:Cell Size; D005247:Feeding Behavior; D005260:Female; D008297:Male; D012621:Seasons; D050151:Subcutaneous Fat / Q000166:cytology*
keywords: adipose; blubber; bowhead; ontogeny; seasonal variation