In:
PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science (PLoS), Vol. 18, No. 2 ( 2023-2-22), p. e0281316-
Abstract:
The life history of a fin whale (Balaenoptera physalus) caught during whaling operations in the 1950s was partly reconstructed. 3D surface models of the bones of the skeleton curated at the Zoological Museum of Hamburg were used for an osteopathological analysis. The skeleton revealed multiple healed fractures of ribs and a scapula. Moreover, the processus spinosi of several vertebrae were deformed and arthrosis was found. Together, the pathological findings provide evidence for large blunt trauma and secondary effects arising from it. Reconstruction of the likely cause of events suggests collision with a ship inflicting the fractures and leading to post traumatic posture damage as indicated by skeletal deformations. The injured bones had fully healed before the fin whale was killed by a whaler in the South Atlantic in 1952. This study is the first in-detail reconstruction of a historical whale—ship collision in the Southern Hemisphere, dating back to the 1940s, and the first documentation of a healed scapula fracture in a fin whale. The skeleton provides evidence for survival of a ship strike by a fin whale with severe injuries causing long-term impairment.
Type of Medium:
Online Resource
ISSN:
1932-6203
DOI:
10.1371/journal.pone.0281316
DOI:
10.1371/journal.pone.0281316.g001
DOI:
10.1371/journal.pone.0281316.g002
DOI:
10.1371/journal.pone.0281316.g003
DOI:
10.1371/journal.pone.0281316.g004
DOI:
10.1371/journal.pone.0281316.g005
DOI:
10.1371/journal.pone.0281316.g006
DOI:
10.1371/journal.pone.0281316.g007
DOI:
10.1371/journal.pone.0281316.g008
DOI:
10.1371/journal.pone.0281316.g009
DOI:
10.1371/journal.pone.0281316.g010
DOI:
10.1371/journal.pone.0281316.g011
DOI:
10.1371/journal.pone.0281316.g012
DOI:
10.1371/journal.pone.0281316.g013
DOI:
10.1371/journal.pone.0281316.g014
DOI:
10.1371/journal.pone.0281316.g015
DOI:
10.1371/journal.pone.0281316.g016
DOI:
10.1371/journal.pone.0281316.g017
DOI:
10.1371/journal.pone.0281316.g018
DOI:
10.1371/journal.pone.0281316.s001
DOI:
10.1371/journal.pone.0281316.s002
DOI:
10.1371/journal.pone.0281316.r001
DOI:
10.1371/journal.pone.0281316.r002
DOI:
10.1371/journal.pone.0281316.r003
DOI:
10.1371/journal.pone.0281316.r004
DOI:
10.1371/journal.pone.0281316.r005
Language:
English
Publisher:
Public Library of Science (PLoS)
Publication Date:
2023
detail.hit.zdb_id:
2267670-3
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