Latorre Rafael, Graïc Jean-Marie, Raverty Stephen A, Soria Federico, Cozzi Bruno, López-Albors Octavio
Department of Anatomy and Comparative Pathology, University of Murcia, 30100 Murcia, Spain.
Department of Comparative Biomedicine and Food Science, University of Padova, 35020 Padova, Italy.
Animals (Basel). 2022 Jan 31;12(3):347. doi: 10.3390/ani12030347.
The killer whale (, Linnaeus, 1958) is the largest extant delphinid. Despite its worldwide distribution in the wild and in dolphinariums, its anatomy remains relatively poorly described. In the present study, we describe the detailed morphology of a plastinated killer whale heart. The gross description of the arteries and veins reaching the organ and its coronary vessels are reported. Additional endoscopy and CT (computed tomography) scanning were performed to provide extensive measurements of its parts. In many aspects, the killer whale heart conformed to other delphinid heart descriptions, including position, relative size and shape and specific features such as extensive papillary muscles, trabecular endocardium and . These characteristics are representative of the delphinid family, suggesting that its functions and capacities are similar to that of other, smaller, dolphins and help understand the conditions in which these predators exert their remarkable physical performance necessary for their survival.
虎鲸（，林奈，1958年）是现存最大的海豚科动物。尽管它在野生环境和海豚馆中分布于全球，但其解剖结构的描述仍相对较少。在本研究中，我们描述了一只塑化虎鲸心脏的详细形态。报告了到达该器官的动脉和静脉及其冠状血管的大体描述。还进行了额外的内窥镜检查和CT（计算机断层扫描）扫描，以对其各部分进行广泛测量。在许多方面，虎鲸心脏与其他海豚科动物心脏的描述相符，包括位置、相对大小和形状以及诸如广泛的乳头肌、小梁状心内膜等特定特征。这些特征是海豚科的代表，表明其功能和能力与其他较小的海豚相似，有助于了解这些捕食者发挥其生存所需卓越身体性能的条件。
