They open up the rarest whale in the world and make a surprising discovery

On 4 July, the spade-toothed whale (Mesoplodon traversii), which has never been seen alive, washed up on a beach in Otago, New Zealand. This discovery is valuable for scientists who can finally study the cetacean. 

For the occasion, the head of operations for the Department of Conservation on the Otago coast, Gabe Davies, said in a statement: “These whales are one of the least known species of large mammals of modern times(…) Since the 1800s, only six specimens have been documented in the world”. 

The Department of Conservation, on its part, stated that this find was "recent enough to provide the first opportunity to dissect a spade-toothed whale". 

Small vestigial teeth

Analyses were therefore carried out on the remains of this cetacean, which is relatively unknown to the general public. The result? On 13 December, scientists were able to reveal that the upper jaw of the cetacean had small vestigial teeth. As the magazine GEO indicates, vestigial structures are remnants of organs or structures that were once functional in an ancestor of a species but have lost their original function. 

A discovery which, according to marine science adviser Anton van Helden, says a lot about the evolution of this species. “It's remarkable to see this and it's something else we had no idea about”. 

9 stomachs!

And they don't stop there as the marine animal, which was found on a beach in New Zealand, had 9 stomachs (which can vary depending on the species). Anton van Helden noted: “In some of these stomachs, we found squid beaks and lenses from squid eyes, a few parasitic worms and possibly other parts of organisms that we aren't quite sure about.” 

While the causes of death of the spade-toothed whale remain undetermined, scientists observed bruises on the neck and head of the animal, which could be a sign of trauma. 

(MH with Raphaël Liset - Source: Demotivateur/GEO - Illustration: ©Unsplash)