Teeth

[Orleander]

this has to be the most interesting set of teeth I have ever seen.


Its the dental plate of a cownose ray. Hmmm, I wonder if this is what a sturgeons teeth look like. Are baleen considered teeth?

[Orleander]

hmmm, I wonder if I could do this with my kids baby teeth. (I also hope I'm not the only Mom in the world who has saved them)

[spidergoat]

My mom saved them AND the umbilical cord.

[Orleander]

My mom saved them AND the umbilical cord.

My mom took care of my kids belly buttons. I was just terrified I would rupture their tummies. ick. I have no idea where the cords went.

<sigh> I did save my son's circumcision ring.I have no idea why. Apparently I thought it would be funny to show him how teeny he was.

If aliens ever land here they might think your Mom and I are cannibals

[Fraggle Rocker]

Are baleen considered teeth?

I answered that question in your other thread about ivory. The answer is no. Baleen consists of keratin, the substance that also comprises fingernails and hair. Baleen has to be flexible to do its job, and dentine (or "ivory") is much too solid.

Presumably you know that there are both baleen whales (mysticeti) and toothed whales (odontoceti). Most of the toothed whales are relatively small and usually referred to as dolphins, porpoises, orcas, etc. But the sperm whale is also a toothed whale.

[Orleander]

....Presumably you know that there are both baleen whales (mysticeti) and toothed whales (odontoceti). Most of the toothed whales are relatively small and usually referred to as dolphins, porpoises, orcas, etc. But the sperm whale is also a toothed whale.

with my pathologial fear of whales, I can't even look at pictures of them. sorry. I don't know much about them

[Fraggle Rocker]

with my pathologial fear of whales, I can't even look at pictures of them. sorry. I don't know much about them.

Huh??? Who is afraid of whales??? They are among the most beloved creatures on earth!

The gigantic whales are all baleen whales, which means they have no teeth and cannot harm anyone. They "graze" on plankton. The smaller toothed whales--porpoises and dolphins--are famous for their peaceful attitude toward humans, and in any case they're not large enough to try to eat us. The largest dolphins are the orcas, but even though they could conceivably hunt us, there are documented instances of them rescuing drowning swimmers, bobbing them up to the surface until they were hauled in by their own comrades.

That leaves the sperm whale of "Moby Dick" fame. Humans used to hunt whales--and the most despicable among us still do, including Japanese, Icelanders, Inuit and Norwegians. So sperm whales--the largest animal with teeth--came to hate and distrust humans and destroyed quite a few whaling vessels.

However, sperm whales are no longer hunted commercially. Since they have the largest brain of any animal, they will soon get the message that they don't need to be defensive around us anymore.

So while most of the rest of the human race is desperately trying to make the world safe for whales, taking their children out to see them, making movies about them, and nearly ready to drop another nuke on Japan if the bastards don't get with the program ("Whale Wars" on Animal Planet)... you are afraid of them?

Why? Have you ever actually seen one?

[Cavalier]

porpoises and dolphins--are famous for their peaceful attitude toward humans, and in any case they're not large enough to try to eat us.

Eat us? No, but...

" Dolphins are violent predators with a predilection for baby killing and rape."

[Fraggle Rocker]

Dolphins are violent predators with a predilection for baby killing and rape.

The tabloids have been making too much out of incidents which may very well be limited to a small number of dolphin communities. Perhaps analogous to cities where lawless street gangs rule, or to the cesspools of fundamentalist religion in the Middle East where girls aren't even allowed to learn to read and write.

I first read of dolphin rape about ten years ago; it had been observed off the coast of Australia. We all joked that it must be the runoff of Foster's seeping into the seawater. Since then I've seen no avalanche of sightings to suggest that this behavior is widespread in any species of dolphin. When people do see one, of course it becomes Big News. This is the kind of stuff humans love to learn about non-human animals, making us feel better about our own failings.

Dolphins are one of the few kinds of animals in which the females are physically capable of copulation outside of their estrus cycle. Humans and chimpanzees also belong to this elite group.

In our species, it allows mothers to keep their children's father at home, while they are pregnant, nursing, or simply between cycles. This is critical for a species whose young require 15 years of hands-on parenting.

Dolphins and chimpanzees, on the other hand, use this behavior as a pack-bonding ritual. Bonobo chimpanzees are famous for their day-long orgies involving the entire tribe including the children--and they're also the gentlest and sweetest of all Great Apes.

But the physical ability to copulate raises the possibility of rape. Dogs can't commit rape: when the female is out of estrus she is impenetrable, not to mention she doesn't give off the pheromones that arouse the males in the first place. (Dogs use mounting as a dominance ritual and also as sheer play, with either sex on top or bottom, but no penetration is attempted or possible.)

Humans can and do commit rape, but do you suppose that the Klingon anthropologists who are scheduled to land here next Thursday will write that down as one of the most important things they learned about our species? How many of you know someone who was raped? The odds are very high that the answer is zero.

As for being violent predators, well duh, that's how predation works. It's not easy for a carnivore to keep himself fed by sneaking up quietly on animals who are asleep. This is typical, crappy, sensationalistic tabloid reporting.

I'd like to comment on the remark about dolphins going days without sleep. Cetaceans can't "fall asleep" the way terrestrial animals do. They're not buoyant enough to float while unconscious; if they were they wouldn't be able to dive to the depths they need to reach. So if one loses consciousness he'll sink and drown. Instead, their brain hemispheres take turns sleeping. When they're both awake I assume they have a long conversation to fill each other in on what they missed.

There's lots of fascinating stuff to be learned about marine mammals. We don't need to dig for the X-rated garbage and blow it out of proportion.