The deep haunting tones of the world's largest animals, baleen whales, are iconic - but how the songs are produced has long been a mystery. Whales evolved from land dwelling mammals which vocalize by passing air through a structure called the larynx - a structure which&nbsp;also helps keep food from entering the respiratory system. However toothed whales like dolphins do not use their larynx to make sound, instead they have evolved a specialized organ in their nose. Now a team of researchers have discovered the structure used by baleen whales - a modified version of the larynx. Whales like Humpbacks and Blue whales are able to&nbsp;create powerful vocalizations&nbsp;but their anatomy also limits the frequency of the sounds they can make and depth at which they can sing. This&nbsp;leaves them unable to escape anthropogenic noise pollution which occur in the same range.Article:&nbsp;<a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-024-07080-1" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Evolutionary novelties underlie sound production in baleen whales</a><a href="https://www.nature.com/briefing/signup?utm_source=podcast-organic&utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=briefing-signup&utm_content=shownotes" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Subscribe to Nature Briefing, an unmissable daily round-up of science news, opinion and analysis free in your inbox every weekday.</a><hr> Hosted on Acast. See <a style='color:grey;' target='_blank' rel='noopener noreferrer' href='https://acast.com/privacy'>acast.com/privacy</a> for more information.

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How whales sing without drowning, an anatomical mystery solved

Nature Podcast