The first - ever dissection of the world ’s rarest heavyweight has enabled Indigenous hoi polloi and preservation scientists in New Zealand to learn more about one of their taoka , which means treasure in the terminology of South Island Māori culture . The marine mammal was a spade - toothed hulk , Mesoplodon traversii , the rarest species of beaked whale with only six specimens confirmed to date , and nobody ’s ever seen one alive .
Department of Conservation ( DOC ) staff turned up to enquire report of a dead , beach whale near the belittled fishing village of Taieri Mouth onJuly 4 . When they arrived , they were shocked to recover the five - meter ( 16 - pes ) male was a spade - toothed whale – “ one of the most poorly known large mammalian species of modern times , ” said DOC Coastal Otago Operations Manager Gabe Davies in astatementat the sentence .
Spade-toothed whale dissection
Such a creature washing ashore was a rare and pivotal chance to larn more about the species , marking the first clip a terminated coon - toothed whale specimen had been recuperate for examination . Now , the first - ever dissection of a spade - toothed whale has retort some new brainstorm about their form .
“ Not only was this tohorā ( whale ) the first of its form to be dissected by skill , but it was also the first time our hapū ( subtribe ) worked with scientist to pull together autochthonal and western noesis system so we can all win a better understanding of the whale and its behaviours , ” said Rūnanga member Rachel Wesley in a recentstatementon the dissection .
“ This process was led by our rakatahi ( young masses ) and guided by our prestigious Edgar Albert Guest from Ngāti Wai – Hori Parata and his son Te Kaurinui – who are tōhuka ( experts ) in working with these taoka ( gem ) . By work with and learning from leaders in te ao Māori , as well as leaders in westerly science , our rakatahi can revive ancient matauraka ( cognition ) and develop an in - deepness knowledge arrangement to pass onto the next contemporaries . ”
Spade-toothed whale’s vestigial teeth
Their piece of work revealed , for the first time , that spade - toothed whales have bantam vestigial teeth in their upper jaw . Vestigial anatomical structure like this are regard oddment of phylogeny , demonstrating that they once served a greater use and , while now reduced , there ’s not been evolutionary pressure to turn a loss the trait entirely .
The reduced hind limb of hulk are often touted as another case of vestigial structure , left over from theirlandlubbing daysaround 50 million years ago . Now , the legs are boil down to lilliputian hip remnants , but they may still serve a rathersteamy purpose .
Spade-toothed whales have nine stomach chambers
Another rum lineament of the spade - toothed heavyweight was its many stomach chambers – nine , to be precise – and there were also some clue as to how they eat and communicate .
“ In some of those stomachs we get calamary neb and some genus Lens from the eye of squid , a few leechlike louse , and perhaps some other portion of organisms that we are not quite sure of , ” say DOC Marine Science Advisor and beaked whale expert Anton van Helden . “ We have a parasitologist who will study them to find out what they are .
“ We also found interesting structures associate with both feeding and sound production . Weights and measure and descriptions were made of various muscles and organs , to help us describe this species and make comparisons with related coinage . These all add together to the dead body of cognition we are make . ”
The death of a rare creature is a distressing daylight for the species , but it ’s hope by learning more about spade - toothed whale , we may be well equipped to conserve them in the time to come .
The individual was appoint Ōnumia by Te Rūnanga atomic number 8 Ōtākou in honor of the arena of the same name where the giant was detect at the back talk of the Taiari River , reestablishing a traditional practice that bonds them to the environment .
