Dear all,

I hope this email finds you well. I am trying to create an osteological reference for cetaceans (fow now I am focusing on the large whales of the North Atlantic). I have visited numerous natural history museums already and have taken thousands of photos and edited most of them as well. I almost have a full overview of all the large whales in the North Atlantic, but I'm still missing some photos of certain views for some skeletal elements for some taxa. It's often hard to take all the photos as the bones are sometimes too big to move by myself or are not present in collections. 

I was hoping that some of you might have access to some of the skeletal elements I am missing and would be willing to take photos. I have attached a list of the remaining photos I need. No need to take any of them of course, but if you happen to have some of these bones easily accessible, it would already help me a lot if you could take one photo (preferably with scale bar). One photo would already help me a lot.

Blue whale: Mandible (medial, ventral and dorsal view), cranium (dorsal view), zygomatic (both sides)

Fin whale: Mandible (medial, ventral and dorsal view)

Sei whale: Sternum (both sides)

Rice’s whale: Mandible (medial, ventral and dorsal view), Hyoid complex (both sides), sternum (both sides), pelvis (both sides), periotic (all six sides), zygomatic (both sides), flipper overview photo from Humerus to all the phalanges

Bryde’s whale: pelvis (both sides)

Eden’s whale: Mandible (medial, ventral and dorsal view), pelvis (both sides), Periotic (all six sides), flipper overview photo from humerus to all the phalanges

Omura’s whale: Periotic (all six sides) and zygomatic (both sides)

Humpback whale: Cranium (dorsal and posterior sides), flipper overview photo from Humerus to all the phalanges

North Atlantic right whale: Cranium (dorsal and ventral sides), Mandible (medial, ventral and dorsal view)

Bowhead whale: Cranium (dorsal and ventral sides), Mandible (medial, ventral and dorsal view)

Sperm whale: Cranium (ventral side)


Best regards,
Youri van den Hurk