Huge Whale Size Is Linked to Genes, According to New Study

The issue of how whales grew to such enormous size has long baffled scientists. Some answers are suggested by a new study. Animals found in the ocean are whales. These days, the largest mammals on the planet are sperm, gray, fin, bowhead, and humpback whales. The blue whale is actually larger than any dinosaur and the largest known animal in history. In a recent study, Brazilian researchers discovered that gigantism—the enormous size of whales—seems to be largely influenced by four genes. According to the researchers, these four genes seem to have created large size while mitigating the associated risks, such decreased fertility and cancer risk.

Dolphins and porpoises are members of the Cetacean family of marine animals, which includes whales. The family is thought to have originated from wolves 50 million years ago, although it is also connected to modern sheep, pigs, cows, and other related species. The report’s principal writer was Mariana Nery, a genetics specialist at the University of Campinas (UNICAMP) in Brazil. It was published in the journal Scientific Reports. According to Nery, her group has conducted the first molecular investigation of gigantism in whales. “Body size is a complex outcome of numerous genes, pathways, and physical and ecological processes,” the speaker stated.

Seven different species of whales with a maximum length of 10 meters were studied. They are six toothless creatures. Rather, they have structures in their jaws called baleen that allow them to grab tiny animals. The sperm whale, which has enormous teeth to eat huge squid and other marine life, was the seventh species examined. Whales can grow to enormous sizes. The maximum length of a humpback and right whale is 15 meters; that of a sperm and bowhead whale is 18 meters; that of a fin whale is 24 meters; and that of the largest whale, the blue whale, has been measured at 30 meters. The scientists looked at a number of genes associated with larger bodies in other species. Four genes that seemed to have a significant role in whale development were discovered.