[Cet article a été déjà publié le 31 juillet 2024]
The Narluga, a discovery of the Inuit
Inuit hunters in the Arctic were the first indicators of this new species. 34 years ago, in 1990, a mysterious skull belonging to any already known animal was discovered by Mads Peter Heide-Jorgensen, a scientist, on the roof of the house of a hunter located on an island in the Bay of Disko, in Greenland.
For almost thirty years, many assumptions have been made without any real response being provided. It was not until 2019 that the truth arose thanks to the DNA of the animal that was examined by researchers from the Natural History Museum in Denmark.
They then realized that the skull found belonged to a hybrid composed of 54 % of Beluga (Delphinapterus leucas) and 46 % Narval (Monodon monoceros). The species was therefore named Narluga.
The meeting between two very different cetaceans
Impossible to confuse them, these two species have very different physics which have mainly distinguished themselves thanks to evolution. The natural habitat of narvals is found only in the Atlantic Arctic while that of the belugas corresponds to the subarctic waters of the north of the Atlantic and the Pacific. So how is it possible that an meeting was taken for?
It may have happened during migration but it remains complicated to assert. Indeed, it is very rare that scientists have been able to observe a coupling between these two species which generally do it underwater while it is frozen.
One of the only places in which beluga and the narval can be found is Disko's bay.
A series of questions
The narluga owes its gray color of the narval, this cetacean with the spiral fin and its bolders with beluga also called white whale. One of their common points is that their skull is lying. The skull found in 1990 had a row of teeth like beluga, but their establishment was different: horizontal and twisted. DNA corresponded to a male, descendant of a mother Narval and a father Béluga.
Which is very surprising because in general the narval females are attracted to the defense of the male. On the social level, the defense has a role of domination and attraction, but Béluga did not. So that suggests that this is not a criterion for narvals females.
Today we do not know if the narlugas are able to reproduce between them.
With an unwavering passion for local news, Christopher leads our editorial team with integrity and dedication. With over 20 years’ experience, he is the backbone of Wouldsayso, ensuring that we stay true to our mission to inform.
