Narwhal - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

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Narwhal
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The narwhal, or narwhale, (Monodon monoceros) is a medium-sized toothed whale that lives year-round in the Arctic. One of two living species of whale in the Monodontidae family, along with the beluga whale, narwhal males are distinguished by a long, straight, helical tusk, actually an elongated upper left canine. Found primarily in Canadian Arctic and Greenlandic waters, rarely south of 65N latitude, the narwhal is a uniquely specialized Arctic predator. In the winter, it feeds on benthic prey, mostly flatfish, at depths of up to 1500 m under dense pack ice.[3] Narwhals have been harvested for over a thousand years by Inuit people in northern Canada and Greenland for meat and ivory, and a regulated subsistence hunt continues to this day. While populations appear stable, the narwhal is particularly vulnerable to climate change due to a narrow geographical range and specialized diet.[4]

Narwhal[1]

Size comparison with an average human

Conservation status

Contents
1 Taxonomy and etymology 2 Description 3 Distribution 4 Behavior and diet 5 Mortality and conservation 6 Humans and narwhals 7 See also 8 References 9 Further reading 10 External links Near Threatened (IUCN 3.1)[2] Scientific classification Kingdom: Phylum: Class: Order: Suborder: Family: Animalia Chordata Mammalia Cetacea Odontoceti Monodontidae Monodon
Linnaeus, 1758

Taxonomy and etymology

The narwhal was one of the many species originally described by Linnaeus in his Systema Naturae.[5] Its name is derived from the Old Norse word nr, meaning "corpse", in reference to the animal's greyish, mottled pigmentation, like that of a drowned sailor.[6] The scientific name, Monodon monoceros, is derived from Greek: "one-tooth onehorn"[6] or "one-toothed unicorn". The narwhal is most closely related to the beluga whale. Together, these
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Genus: Species:

M. monoceros Binomial name

Monodon monoceros
Linnaeus, 1758

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two species comprise the only extant members of the Monodontidae family, sometimes referred to as the "white whales". The Monodontidae are distinguished by medium size (at around 4 m (13 ft) in length), forehead melons, short snouts, and the absence of a true dorsal fin.[7] The white whales, dolphins (Delphinidae) and porpoises (Phocoenidae) together comprise the Delphinoidea superfamily, which are of likely monophyletic origin. Genetic evidence suggests the porpoises are more closely related to the white whales, and that these two families constitute a separate clade which diverged from the Delphinoidea within the past 11 million years.[8]

Narwhal range (in blue)

Description
These are medium-sized whales, being around the same size as a beluga whale. Total length in both sexes, excluding the "tusk" of the male, can range from 3.95 to 5.5 m (13 to 18 ft).[9] Males, at an average length of 4.1 m (13 ft 5 in), are slightly larger than females, at an average of 3.5 m (11 ft 6 in). Typical adult body weight can range from 800 to 1,600 kg (1,800 to 3,500 lb).[9] Males attain sexual maturity at 11 to 13 years of age, when they are approximately 3.9 m (12 ft 10 in) long, and females attain maturity at 5 to 8 years old, when they are 3.4 m (11 ft 2 in) long.[9] The pigmentation of the narwhal is a mottled pattern, with blackish-brown markings over a white background. They are darkest when born and become whiter in color with age, with white patches developing on the navel and genital slit at sexual maturity. Old males may be almost pure white.[6][9][10] The most conspicuous characteristic of the male narwhal is its single extremely long tusk, a canine tooth[11] that projects from the left side of the upper jaw and forms a left-handed helix. The tusk seems to grow slightly throughout life from 1.5 to 3.1 m (4 ft 11 in to 10 ft 2 in). Despite its formidable appearance, the tusk is hollow and weighs only around 10 kg (22 lb). About one in 500 males has two tusks, which occurs when the right canine, normally small and less straight, also grows out. A female narwhal has a shorter, and straighter tusk.[12] She may also produce a second tusk, but this occurs rarely, and there is a single recorded case of a female with dual tusks.[13] The most broadly accepted theory for the role of the tusk is as a secondary sexual characteristic, similar to the mane of a lion or the tail feathers of a peacock.[6] This hypothesis was notably discussed and defended at length by Charles Darwin, in The Descent of Man, and Selection in Relation to Sex (1871). It may help determine social rank, maintain dominance hierarchies, or help young males develop skills necessary for performance in adult sexual roles. Narwhals have rarely been observed using their tusk for fighting,[14] other aggressive behavior or for breaking sea ice in their Arctic habitat.[6] Some narwhals have a second, small tooth in their mouths, but are essentially toothless.[9] The tusk may be a sensory organ.[15]

Distribution
The narwhal is found predominantly in the Atlantic and Russian areas of the Arctic Ocean. Individuals are
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commonly recorded in the northern part of Hudson Bay, Hudson Strait, Baffin Bay; off the east coast of Greenland; and in a strip running east from the northern end of Greenland round to eastern Russia (170 East). Land in this strip includes Svalbard, Franz Joseph Land, and Severnaya Zemlya.[6] The northernmost sightings of narwhal have occurred north of Franz Joseph Land, at about 85 North latitude.[6] Most of the world's narwhals are concentrated in the fjords and inlets of Northern Canada and western Greenland.

The frequent (solid) and rare (striped) occurrence of narwhal populations

Behavior and diet

Narwhals have a relatively restricted and specialized diet. Their prey is predominantly composed of Greenland halibut, polar and Arctic cod, cuttlefish, shrimp and Gonatus squid. Additional items found in stomachs have included wolffish, capelin, skate eggs and sometimes rocks, accidentally ingested when whales feed near the Narwhals "tusking" bottom.[3][9][16][17] Due to the lack of well-developed dentition in the mouth, narwhals are believed to feed by swimming towards prey until it is within close range and then sucking it with considerable force into the mouth. It is thought that the beaked whales, who have similarly reduced dentition, also suck up their prey.[18] Narwhals are a migratory species. As spring comes, these leads open up into channels and the narwhals return to the coastal bays.[4] Narwhals exhibit seasonal migrations, with a high fidelity of return to preferred, ice-free summering grounds, usually in shallow waters. In summer months, they move closer to coasts, usually in pods of 10100. In the winter, they move to offshore, deeper waters under thick pack ice, surfacing in narrow fissures in the sea ice, or leads.[17] Narwhals from Canada and West Greenland winter regularly in the pack ice of Davis Strait and Baffin Bay along the continental slope with less than 5% open water and high densities of Greenland halibut.[3]
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This narwhal skull has double tusks, a rare trait in narwhals. Usually, males have a single long tusk, the canine on the left side of the upper jaw. (Zoologisches
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Feeding in the winter accounts for a much larger portion of narwhal energy intake than in the summer[3][17] and, as marine predators, they are unique in their successful exploitation of deep-water arctic ecosystems.
Museum in Hamburg)

Most notable of their adaptations is the ability to perform deep dives. When on their wintering grounds, the narwhals make some of the deepest dives ever recorded for a marine mammal, diving to at least 800 meters (2,625 feet) over 15 times per day, with many dives reaching 1,500 meters (4,921 feet). Dives to these depths last around 25 minutes, including the time spent at the bottom and the transit down and back from the surface.[19] In the shallower summering grounds, narwhals dive to depths between 30 and 300 meters (90 900 feet). Narwhals normally congregate in groups of about five to ten individuals, sometimes up to 20 outside the summer. Groups may be "nurseries" with only females and young or can contain only post-dispersal juveniles or adult males ("bulls"), though mixed groups can occur at any time of the year.[9] In the summer, several groups come together, forming larger aggregations. Such aggregations can contain from 500 to over 1000 individuals.[9] At times, bull narwhals rub their tusks together in an activity called "tusking".[16] This behavior is thought to maintain social dominance hierarchies.[16]

Mortality and conservation

Normally, narwhals can live quite a long life, with lifespans of up to at least 50 years recorded. Mortality often occurs when the narwhals suffocate after they fail to leave before the surface of the Arctic waters freeze over in the late fall.[9] Starvation can also threaten their lives, especially in young whales. Although almost all modern predation of narwhals is by humans, a few natural predators also attack them on occasion. The primary natural predators are polar bears, who attempt to A polar bear scavenging a narwhal swipe narwhals at breathing holes and mainly target young whales, and carcass killer whales (or orcas), pods of which can overwhelm a narwhal. Greenland sharks and walruses may take a few small young or weak and wounded adults, though this is likely quite rare.[9] Inuit people are allowed to hunt this whale species legally for subsistence. Narwhal has been extensively hunted the same way as other sea mammals, such as seals and whales, for its large quantities of fat which constituted one of the most important resources of the native people living in arctic regions. Almost all parts of the narwhal, meat, skin, blubber and organs are consumed. Mattak, the name for raw skin and blubber, is considered a delicacy, and the bones are used for tools and art.[6] The skin is an important source of vitamin C which is otherwise difficult to obtain. In Narwhal fluke some places in Greenland, such as Qaanaaq, traditional hunting methods are used, and whales are harpooned from handmade kayaks. In other parts of Greenland and Northern Canada, high-speed boats and hunting rifles are used.[6]

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Narwhal have been found to be one of the most vulnerable arctic marine mammals to climate change. The study quantified the vulnerabilities of 11 year-round Arctic sea mammals.[4][20] Narwhals that have been brought into captivity tend to die of unnatural causes.[15] The world population is currently estimated to be around 75,000 individuals.[4] Approximately 25,00050,000 breeding narwhal are believed to exist in the wild worldwide.[9]

Humans and narwhals

In Inuit legend, the narwhal's tusk was created when a woman with a harpoon rope tied around her waist was dragged into the ocean after the harpoon had struck a large narwhal. She was transformed into a narwhal herself, and her hair, which she was wearing in a twisted knot, became the characteristic spiral narwhal tusk.[21] Some medieval Europeans believed narwhal tusks to be the horns from the legendary unicorn.[22] As these horns were considered to have magic powers, such as the ability to cure poison and melancholia, Vikings and other northern traders were able to sell them for many times their weight in gold. The tusks were used to make cups that were thought to negate any poison that may have been slipped into the drink. During the 16th century, Queen Elizabeth received a carved and bejeweled narwhal tusk for 10,000the cost of a castle (approximately 1.52.5 million in 2007, using the retail price index).[23] The Image of narwhal from tusks were staples of the cabinet of curiosities.[24] The truth of the tusk's origin Brehms Tierleben developed gradually during the Age of Exploration, as explorers and naturalists began to visit Arctic regions themselves. In 1555, Olaus Magnus published a drawing of a fish-like creature with a horn on its forehead, correctly identifying it as a "Narwal".[24] The narwhal was one of two possible explanations of the giant sea phenomenon written by Jules Verne in his book Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea. The other possible explanation was a man-made vessel, but that was not likely in the opinion of the narrator. Herman Melville wrote a section on the narwhal in Moby Dick, in which he claims a narwhal tusk hung for "a long period" in Windsor Castle after Sir Martin Frobisher had given it to Queen Elizabeth.[25]

The head of a lance made from a Narwhal tusk with a meteorite iron blade

See also
List of whale and dolphin species Marine biology

References
1. ^ Mead, J. G.; Brownell, R. L., Jr. (2005). "Order Cetacea" (http://www.bucknell.edu/msw3/browse.asp?id=14300107). In Wilson, D. E.; Reeder, D. M. Mammal Species of the World (http://www.google.com/books?
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id=JgAMbNSt8ikC&pg=PA723) (3rd ed.). Johns Hopkins University Press. pp. 723743. ISBN 978-0-8018-8221-0. OCLC 62265494 (//www.worldcat.org/oclc/62265494). ^ Jefferson, T.A., Karczmarski, L., Laidre, K., OCorry-Crowe, G., Reeves, R.R., Rojas-Bracho, L., Secchi, E.R., Slooten, E., Smith, B.D., Wang, J.Y. & Zhou, K. (2008). Monodon monoceros (http://www.iucnredlist.org/apps/redlist/details/13704). In: IUCN 2008. IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Retrieved 18 December 2008. ^ a b c d Laidre, K (2004). "Deep-ocean predation by a high Arctic cetacean". ICES Journal of Marine Science 61 (1): 430440. doi:10.1016/j.icesjms.2004.02.002 (http://dx.doi.org/10.1016%2Fj.icesjms.2004.02.002). ^ a b c d Laidre, K. L.; Stirling, I.; Lowry, L.; Wiig, .; Heide-Jrgensen, M. P. and Ferguson, S. (2008). "Quantifying the sensitivity of arctic marine mammals to climate-induced habitat change". Ecological Applications 18 (2): S97S125. doi:10.1890/06-0546.1 (http://dx.doi.org/10.1890%2F06-0546.1). PMID 18494365 (//www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/18494365). ^ (Latin) Linnaeus, C (1758). Systema naturae per regna tria naturae, secundum classes, ordines, genera, species, cum characteribus, differentiis, synonymis, locis. Tomus I. Editio decima, reformata. Holmiae. (Laurentii Salvii). p. 824. ^ a b c d e f g h i Heide-Jrgensen, M. P. and Laidre, K. L. (2006). Greenlands Winter Whales: The beluga, the narwhal and the bowhead whale. Ilinniusiorfik Undervisningsmiddelforlag, Nuuk, Greenland. ISBN 978-87-7975-299-3. ^ Brodie, Paul (1984). In Macdonald, D. The Encyclopedia of Mammals. New York: Facts on File. pp. 200203. ISBN 0-87196-871-1. ^ Waddell, V.G.; Milinkovitch, M.C.; Brub, M. and Stanhope, M.J. (2000). "Molecular Phylogenetic Examination of the Delphinoidea Trichotomy: Congruent Evidence from Three Nuclear Loci Indicates That Porpoises (Phocoenidae) Share a More Recent Common Ancestry with White Whales (Monodontidae) Than They Do with True Dolphins (Delphinidae)". Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution 15 (2): 314318. doi:10.1006/mpev.1999.0751 (http://dx.doi.org/10.1006%2Fmpev.1999.0751). PMID 10837160 (//www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/10837160). ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Macdonald, D.W.; Barrett , P. (1993). Mammals of Europe. New Jersey: Princeton University Press. ISBN 0-691-09160-9. ^ "Monodon monoceros" (http://www.fao.org/fi/website/FIRetrieveAction.do?dom=species&fid=2742). Fisheries andAquaculture Department: Species Fact Sheets. Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. Retrieved 2007-11-20. ^ Nweeia, Martin T., et al.; Eichmiller, Frederick C.; Hauschka, Peter V.; Tyler, Ethan; Mead, James G.; Potter, Charles W.; Angnatsiak, David P.; Richard, Pierre R. et al. (2012). "Vestigial tooth anatomy and tusk nomenclature for Monodon monoceros". The Anatomical Record 295 (6): 100616. doi:10.1002/ar.22449 (http://dx.doi.org/10.1002%2Far.22449). PMID 22467529 (//www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22467529). ^ Narwhal Whale Tusk (http://www.narwhalwhales.com/narwhalwhaletusk). www.narwhalwhales.com. Retrieved on 2013-04-21. ^ Carwardine, Mark (1995). DK Handbooks: Whales Dolphins and Porpoises. Dorling Kindersley. ISBN 1-56458-6200. ^ Silverman, H. B. and Dunbar, M. J. (1980). "Aggressive tusk use by the narwhal (Monodon monoceros L.)". Nature 284 (5751): 5657. doi:10.1038/284057a0 (http://dx.doi.org/10.1038%2F284057a0). ^ a b Broad, William (December 13, 2005). "It's Sensitive. Really." (http://www.nytimes.com/2005/12/13/science/13narw.html?hp&_r=0). The New York Times. mirror (http://www.narwhal.org/nyt.html) ^ a b c "The Biology and Ecology of Narwhals" (http://oceanexplorer.noaa.gov/explorations/06arctic/background/biology/biology.html). National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Retrieved 2009-01-15. ^ a b c Laidre, K.L. and Heide-Jrgensen, M. P. (2005). "Winter feeding intensity of narwhals". Marine Mammal Science 21 (1): 4557. doi:10.1111/j.1748-7692.2005.tb01207.x (http://dx.doi.org/10.1111%2Fj.1748-7692.2005.tb01207.x). ^ ANIMAL BYTES Narwhal (http://www.seaworld.org/animal-info/animalbytes/animalia/eumetazoa/coelomates/deuterostomes/chordata/craniata/mammalia/cetacea/narwhal.htm). Seaworld.org. Retrieved on 2013-04-21. ^ Laidre, K. L.; Heide-Jrgensen, M. P.; Dietz, R.; Hobbs, R. C. and Jrgensen, O. A. (2003). "Deep-diving by
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19. ^ Laidre, K. L.; Heide-Jrgensen, M. P.; Dietz, R.; Hobbs, R. C. and Jrgensen, O. A. (2003). "Deep-diving by narwhals, Monodon monoceros: differences in foraging behavior between wintering areas?". Marine Ecology Progress Series 261: 269281. doi:10.3354/meps261269 (http://dx.doi.org/10.3354%2Fmeps261269). 20. ^ Borenstein, Seth (25 April 2008). "Narwhals more at risk to Arctic warming than polar bears" (http://www.foxnews.com/wires/2008Apr25/0,4670,ClimateArcticAnimals,00.html). Associated Press. Retrieved 200804-27. 21. ^ Bastian, Dawn E; Judy K. Mitchell (2004). Handbook of Native American Mythology (http://books.google.com/? id=IsyQu1kDK-kC). ABC-CLIO. pp. 5455. ISBN 1-85109-533-0. 22. ^ Daston, Lorraine and Katharine Park. Wonders and the Order of Nature, 11501750. New York: Zone Books, 2001. 23. ^ Purchasing Power of British Pounds from 1264 to 2007 (http://www.measuringworth.com/ppoweruk/). measuringworth.com 24. ^ a b Shepard, Odell (1956). The Lore of the Unicorn. Harper and Row Publishers. 25. ^ Melville, Herman (1851). Moby-Dick; or, The Whale. Harper and Brothers.

Further reading
M. P. Heide-Jorgensen. "Narwhal", in Encyclopedia of Marine Mammals (http://books.google.com/books? id=2rkHQpToi9sC&lpg=PP1), Perrin, Wursig and Thewissen eds. ISBN 0-12-551340-2 Heide-Jrgensen, M. P. and K. L. Laidre (2006). Greenlands Winter Whales: The beluga, the narwhal and the bowhead whale (http://arctic.synergiesprairies.ca/arctic/index.php/arctic/article/viewFile/224/257). Ilinniusiorfik Undervisningsmiddelforlag, Nuuk, Greenland. ISBN 978-87-7975-299-3.

External links
Biology and ecology of narwhals, NOAA (http://oceanexplorer.noaa.gov/explorations/06arctic/background/biology/biology.html) Narwhal FAQ (http://staff.washington.edu/klaidre/narwhalfaq.html) Images and information about Narwhal Whales (http://www.narwhalwhales.com/) Narwhal general information (http://www.narwhal-whales.com/) Narwhal info (http://www.narwhal.info/) National Geographic Gallery (http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/ngm/0708/feature3/gallery1.html) Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Narwhal&oldid=552197318" Categories: IUCN Red List near threatened species Arctic cetaceans Monodontidae Mammals of Canada Fauna of Greenland Monotypic mammal genera Animals described in 1758 This page was last modified on 26 April 2013 at 00:01. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License; additional terms may apply. By using this site, you agree to the Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. Wikipedia is a registered trademark of the Wikimedia Foundation, Inc., a non-profit organization.

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