Baleen Whale, Rorqual
name: label: Discipline
content: Vertebrate Zoology
label: Region
content: North American Region
notes: label: Description
content: This object is part of the Education and Outreach collection, some of which are in the Q?rius science education center and available to see.
label: Notes
content: This item is an earwax plug from the Rorqual (Balaenopteridae) family of whales. Rorquals are the largest group of baleen whales (whales with baleen plates that serve as teeth, which help them feed on tiny plankton). Examples of species in the Rorqual family include: Antarctic minke; Blue whale; Bryde's whale; Eden's whale; Fin whale; Humpback whale; Northern minke; and the Sei whale. 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. This specimen is embedded in acrylic. The ear wax plug itself measures approximately 7 cm x 2 cm x 0.5 cm in size.
label: Number of objects in this record
content: 1
label: Record Last Modified
content: 6 Mar 2024
place: label: Collecting Locality
content: North America, United States
topic: label: Topic
content: Education & Outreach
setName: label: See more items in
content: Q?rius, The Coralyn W. Whitney Science Education Center
publisher: label: Scientific Name
content: Balaenopteridae
identifier: label: USNM Number
content: EO401760
objectType: label: Object Type
content: Education and Outreach collections
taxonomicName: label: Taxonomy
content: Animalia, Chordata, Vertebrata, Tetrapoda, Mammalia, Artiodactyla, Mysticeti, Balaenopteridae
physicalDescription: label: Sex
content: ?