Gross observation
Three distinct nasal turbinals were observed in the medial aspect of the
nasal chamber in all the investigated animals (Figs. 1 and 2). These
structures were identified as the lamina semicircularis, ethmoturbinals
I and II. The configuration of these nasal turbinals closely resembled
the ’ethmoturbinates/olfactory recess’ described in a common minke whale
(Figs. 6 and 7, Godfrey et al., 2013), as well as in bowhead whales
(Fig. 7, Farnkopf et al. 2022).
The cranial bony block from 16NPCK-M009 exhibited a complicated
morphology of nasal turbinals situated laterally to the ethmoturbinals I
and II (Fig. 2). the ethmoturbinal I was positioned just anterior to the
olfactory bulb chamber and was accompanied ventrolaterally by the
posterior part of ethmoturbinal I (Fig. 2b, ET I p). Laterally to the
ethmoturbinal I, the dorsal region of the nasal chamber was occupied by
two slender frontoturbinals (Fig. 2b, FT), which corresponded to the
same area from which R-006 was obtained (Fig. 1c and d). A delicate
turbinal structure, known as the interterbinal, was located lateral to
the ethmoturbinal II (Fig. 2b, IT).