... whales in blubber and in the specialized cranial adipose tissues used for echolocation and hearing. Wax ester Blubber Acoustic fat Isovaleric acid Branched-chain fatty acid Melon Lipids are crucial for all animals, playing roles ranging from compartmentalization to cell signaling...

...Whitlow W. L. Au; Ronald A. Kastelein; Kelly J. Benoit-Bird; Ted W. Cranford; Megan F. McKenna SUMMARY An experiment was conducted to investigate the sound pressure patterns on the melon of odontocetes by using four broadband hydrophones embedded in suction cups to measure echolocation signals...

..., 3-5 times their body mass, is a product of specialization for male—male aggression. Specifically, we suggest that the greatly enlarged and derived melon of sperm whales, the spermaceti organ, evolved as a battering ram to injure an opponent. To address this hypothesis, we examined the correlation...