Newly Discovered 'Bungee Cord' Like Oral Nerves Enable Whales to Binge Feed

The Rorqual whale has nerves in its mouth and tongue that has the ability to stretch to twice its length and then retract back its original size without suffering any nerve damage.

Scientists from UBC discovered these 'bungee cord' like nerves by accident.

The unusual discovery is all the more remarkable when you consider most vertebrates only have nerves of a fixed length.

Typically, when a vertebrate nerve is pulled by 10 percent, it can stop transmitting signals and when you pull it to 30 percent, the nerve may snap altogether.

That kind of damage to the nerve is known to cause extreme pain and in some cases even paralysis.

The humpback, fin and blue whale all belong to the rorqual whale family and were found to possess these nerves in their mouth and tongue.

They usually feed on small fish or krill by opening their mouths to almost 90 degree in an effort to binge feed.

Nick Pyenson, a UBC postdoctoral fellow who works as curator of fossil marine mammals at the Smithsonian's National Museum of Natural History said, "This discovery underscores how little we know about even the basic anatomy of the largest animals alive in the oceans today. Our findings add to the growing list of evolutionary solutions that whales evolved in response to new challenges faced in marine environments over millions of years."