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New Species of Living Baleen Whale Discovered |
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| UK: November 20, 2003 | ||
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LONDON - Japanese scientists have identified a new species of living baleen whale after examining the skeletons of several specimens caught in the 1970s.
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Shiro Wada and researchers at the National Research Institute of Fisheries Science in Yokohama said the specimens resembled fin whales although they were smaller. But after examining their DNA, the shape of their skull and the baleen plates they use to filter plankton from the water they were convinced the specimens were a new species. The comparison "separated them from all known baleen whale species," Wada said in a report published in the science journal Nature yesterday. The researchers also separated other similar types of baleen whales - Bryde's whale and Eden's whale - into two distinct species. Baleen whales have no teeth and use the baleen plates that hang down from the roof of their mouths to gather food. New Scientist magazine described the research as a stunning find and said it reinforces how little is known about the world's fauna, including its greatest mammals. "We are in the midst of a major rethink about what constitutes a species, and where the boundaries lie between them," the magazine said in its latest issue.
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REUTERS NEWS SERVICE
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