Hidehiro Kato

TL;DR: An extensive survey of retropositional events that might have occurred during the divergence of whales and even-toed ungulates is made, providing evidence that whales, ruminants and hippopotamuses form a monophyletic group.

TL;DR: The mtDNA analysis suggests that four lineages exist within the clade of Eschrichtiidae + Balaenopteridae, including a sister relationship between the humpback and fin whales, and a monophyletic group formed by the blue, sei, and Bryde's whales, each of which represents a newly recognized phylogenetic relationship in Mysticeti.

TL;DR: Persistent organochlorines such as polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), DDTs, chlordane compounds (CHLs), hexachlorocyclohexanes (HCHs) and Hexachlorobenzene (HCB) were determined in the blubber of minke whale and its diet collected from the Antarctic and the North Pacific Oceans.

TL;DR: The results of this study suggest that the peak frequency of the 28 Hz vocalisations may be used as a diagnostic feature to aid in discriminating between Antarctic blue whales and pygmy blue whales in the field; however, examination of vocalisations in relation to group size and behaviour are necessary to understand the circumstances in which the 28Hz vocalisations are produced.

TL;DR: The hepatic concentrations of metals varied between sexes, and with reproductive status of the matured female; the concentration of Fe was lower in the females than the males, and Fe, Pb, Ni, and Co concentrations in the matured females decreased with progress of gestation.