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Narwhal Illustration,William Scoresby, 1820 |
Three unusual-looking whales were caught in Greenland by Inuit hunters in the late 1980s—unlike any the Inuit had ever seen. Each was an even grey colour, with flippers like those of belugas, and tails like those of narwhals.To read the entire short article, click on "The surprising ‘belwhal’ — DNA reveals beluga-narwhal hybrid".
One of their skulls was preserved; a DNA study has now identified it as a first-generation hybrid between a male beluga and a female narwhal—a ‘belwhal’. . . Evolutionary biologist Eline Lorenzen called it “the first and only evidence in the world that these two Arctic whale species can interbreed.”
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