
Research sheds light on the origin of the baleen whale - bootload
https://www.monash.edu/news/articles/world-first-research-sheds-light-on-the-origin-of-the-baleen-whale#.WD4cJV1pttU.twitter
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masterponomo
I'm disappointed they went with "Alfred" and didn't try the more descriptive
Baleeny McBaleenyface.

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undersuit
Alfred wasn't a Baleen whale though, he was a normal toothed whale that sucked
in his food.

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masterponomo
You are right. I saw "branch of baleen family" and was blinded by my own joke
w/o reading the whole paragraph. I wonder if the suck-feeding method
contributed to the evolution of the blowhole? Perhaps it originated as a
release valve so they could breathe out without blowing their freshly-sucked-
in meal right back out their mouth?

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undersuit
All Cetaceans have blowholes. I think it's one of the original evolutionary
traits.

"The trachea only connects to the blowhole, and the animal cannot breathe
through its mouth."
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blowhole_(anatomy)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blowhole_\(anatomy\))

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masterponomo
I can see where natural selection would lead to separation of the blowhole
from the mouth. I'll bet proto-whales without that adaptation had frequent
clogging of the blowhole with food from within. This would not only block the
airway, but blowing the food out (if they could manage it before blacking out
and sinking) would deprive them of nourishment.

