Postcranial skeleton and musculature

Abstract The postcranial skeleton of bowhead whales was described in detail more than 100 years ago. The musculature of bowheads has not been studied in detail but matches that of other mysticetes in general features. In this chapter, we focus on some aspects of the skeleton that differs from that of other cetaceans. First, the skeleton of bowheads changes with ontogenetic age. Some of these changes are gross-morphologically, while others are biochemical and histological. Several are related to the life history of the species. Our discussion focuses on the changes in the morphology of the cervical vertebral column, the ontogenetic variation in carpals, and the variation in the hind limb. Individuals with external hind limbs occur infrequently, but there is a great variation in the size of ox coxae, femur, and tibia.