Cetaceans

Disruption of thyroid functions in vertebrates has been suggested to constitute a potential threat to many vital functions. For example, there is a possibility that disruption to the thyroid hormone levels during embryogenesis could result in disturbed behaviour patterns in the adult form, possibly interfering with migration in certain species and sonar functions in cetaceans. In anurans, thyroid hormones are essential for initiating metamorphosis. ... 

W schkora, n. maize, corn, walten, v.i. dispose, manage, govern, rule. Wal-tier, n. cetacean, -tran, m. whale oil. walzbar, a. capable of being rolled, reliable. Walz-barkeit, /. reliability, rolling property, blech, n. rolled plate, -blei, n. sheet lead, -draht, m. rod wire wire rod. 

Yoshida, N. and Miyazaki, N. 1991 Oxygen isotope correlation of cetacean bone phosphate with environmental water. Journal of Geophysical Research 96 815-820. 

Aguilar, A. and Borrell, A. (1994). An assessment of organochlorine pollutants in cetaceans by means of skin and hypodermic biopsies. In Non-Destructive Biomarkers in Vertebrates. M.J.C. Fossi and C. Leonzio (Eds.), Lewis, Boca Raton, EL. 245-267. 

Aguilar, A., Borrell, A., and Pastor, T. (1996). Organochlorine compound levels in striped dolphins from the Western Mediterranean 1987-1993. European Research on Cetaceans 10, 281-285. 

Tanabe, S. and Tatsukawa, R. (1992). Chemical modernisation and vulnerability of cetaceans increasing threat of organochlorine contaminants. In C.H. Walker and D.R. Livingstone (Eds.) Persistent Pollutants in Marine Ecosystems, 161-180. 

Mackey, E.A., P.R. Becker, R. Demiralp, R.R. Greenberg, B J. Koster, and S.A. Wise. 1996. Bioaccumulation of vanadium and other trace metals in livers of Alaskan cetaceans and pinnipeds. Arch. Environ. Contam. Toxicol. 30 503-512. 

Marcovecchio, J.E., V.J. Moreno, R.O. Bastida, M.S. Gerpe, and D.H. Rodriguez. 1990. Tissue distribution of heavy metals in small cetaceans from the southwestern Atlantic Ocean. Mar. Pollut. Bull. 21 299-304. 

Betti, C. and M. Nigro. 1996. The Comet assay for the evaluation of the genetic hazard of pollutants in cetaceans preliminary results on the genotoxic effects of methyl-mercury on the bottle-nosed dolphin (Tursiops truncatus) lymphocytes in vitro. Mar. Pollut. Bull. 32 545-548. 

Joins, C.R., L. Holsbeek, J. Bouquegneau, and M. Bossicart. 1991. Mercury contamination of the harbor porpoise Phocoena phocoena and other cetaceans from the North Sea and the Kattegat. Water Air Soil Pollut. 56 283-293. 

Rawson, A.J., J.P. Bradley, A. Teetsov, S.B. Rice, E.M. Haller, and G.W. Patton. 1995. A role for airborne particulates in high mercury levels of some cetaceans. Ecotoxicol. Environ. Safety 30 309-314. 

When compared to other cetaceans, PCB residues in blubber of harbor porpoises (Phocoena phocoena) from the Black Sea showed a measurable sexual difference. PCB concentrations were lower in older female porpoises possibly due to lactational transfer to their calves, while in males the PCB concentrations were positively correlated with increasing age (Tanabe et al. 1997). In stellar sea lions (Eumetopias jubatus), the transfer rate of PCBs through lactation was estimated at 80% of the total body PCB burden of adult females (Lee et al. 1996). PCB concentrations in liver of the stellar sea lion from the Bering Sea increased with increasing age and correlated positively with those of blubber (Lee et al. 1996). In ringed seals (Phoca hispida) from the Russian Arctic, lactational transfer of PCBs was estimated at 25% of whole-body burden in the mature female (Nakata et al. 1998), or about one third that of stellar sea lions. In grey seals (Halichoerus... 

De Guise, S. et al., Monoclonal antibodies to lymphocyte surface antigens for cetacean homologues to CD2, CD19 and CD21, Vet. Immunol. Immunopathol., 84, 209, 2004. 

De Guise, S. et al., Characterization of a monoclonal antibody that recognizes a lymphocyte surface antigen for the cetacean homologue to CD45R, Immunology, 94, 207, 1998. 

Protein Tree I (cow-pig) Tree II (cow—cetacean) Tree III (pig-cetacean)... 

Each tree contains one or more sequences from a whale (or other cetacean), cow, pig, and outgroup (usually rat). Tree I is traditional and groups cows with pigs. Tree II groups whales with cows, while tree III groups whales with pigs. The tree with the minimum number of steps in each case is underlined. 

Graur, D., and Higgins, D. G. (1994). Molecular evidence for the inclusion of cetaceans within the order artiodactyla. Mol. Biol. Evol. 11, 357-364. 

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