Compositional topography of melon lipids in the Atlantic bottlenosed dolphinTursiops truncatus: Implications for echo-location

✍ Scribed by C. Litchfield; R. Karol; A. J. Greenberg

• Book ID: 104751380
• Publisher: Springer-Verlag
• Year: 1973
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 490 KB
• Volume: 23
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 0025-3162
• DOI: 10.1007/bf00389480

✦ Synopsis

Major variations in lipid composition exist within the fatty melon tissue of the Atlantic bottlenosed dolphin Tursiops truncatus. Topographical lipid analyses indicate a central "inner melon" core surrounded by distinctive "outer melon", "under melon", and blubber tissues. Acoustical considerations suggest that this melon-lipid topography may aid in collimation of the ultrasonic pulses used by the dolphin for echolocation.