Inuit and Scientific Studies of the Narwhal: Connecting Parallel Perceptions

摘要#0613671因纽特人对独角鲸的科学描述：连接平行的感知。对独角鲸的跨学科研究，重点放在图斯克的功能上马丁·T·纳韦亚，DMD，DDS，哈佛大学牙科医学院首席研究员兼临床讲师，史密森学会海洋哺乳动物计划副研究员，Smithsonian研究所，纳瓦尔·图斯克研究Qaujisanniq qilalugaup tuangning nikwww.narwhal.org该奖项为该项目提供了资源，以探索将科学与加拿大和格陵兰因纽特长老的传统生态知识相结合的可能性，以便对独角鲸的结构和功能提供洞察力。这一特别项目具有额外的紧迫性，因为由于年事已高，许多最有知识的老年人变得越来越脆弱。独角鲸图斯克研究是一个跨学科的跨领域合作，跨越生物、化学、物理和社会科学的边界，以发现独角鲸爆发的象牙的目的和功能。到目前为止，全球27个机构和48多名科学家将结合他们的洞察力和背景，与来自加拿大东部高地和格陵兰岛西部的32名因纽特长老一起拼凑这个数百年来一直未被发现的海洋哺乳动物谜题的碎片。研究人员拥有细胞生物学、组织学、解剖学、海洋哺乳动物科学、牙科医学、进化遗传学和数学等多个领域的背景，目前正在分析独角鲸的牙齿及其相关结构。拥有丰富猎人和向导经验的因纽特长老继续提供描述独角鲸行为和社会特征的传统知识。作为该项目的一部分，来自加拿大和格陵兰四个社区的老年人将接受数字音频和视频格式的采访，以记录他们基于数百年集体经验的见解、看法和观察。这些平行的认识中的每一个都有共同的观点，这些观点对过去的研究和指导当前关于象牙的发现做出了贡献、指导和挑战。

ABSTRACT#0613671Inuit and Scientific Descriptions of the Narwhal: Connecting Parallel Perceptions. Inter-disciplinary Studies of the Narwhal with a Focus on Tusk FunctionMartin T. Nweeia, DMD., DDS., Principal InvestigatorClinical Instructor, Harvard School of Dental MedicineResearch Associate, Marine Mammal Program, Smithsonian InstitutionNarwhal Tusk Research Qaujisanniq qilalugaup tugangninnikwww.narwhal.orgThis award provides the project with resources to explore the possibility of combining science with the Traditional Ecological Knowledge of Inuit elders in Canada and Greenland in order to provide insight into the structure and function of the narwhal tusk. This particular project has additional urgency because a large number of the most knowledgeable elders are, as a result of advanced age, becoming increasing fragile. The Narwhal Tusk Research is a multinational collaboration with an interdisciplinary approach that crosses the borders of biologic, chemical, physical, and social science to discover the purpose and function of the erupted tusk of the narwhal. Thus far, 27 Institutions worldwide and over 48 scientists will combine their insights and backgrounds with 32 Inuit elders from the Eastern Canadian High Arctic and Western Greenland to assemble the pieces of this marine mammal puzzle that has eluded discovery for hundreds of years. Investigators with myriad backgrounds in cellular biology, histology, anatomy, marine mammal science, dental medicine, evolutionary genetics and mathematics are currently analyzing narwhal teeth and their associated structures. Inuit elders with extensive experience as hunters and guides are continuing to provide Traditional Knowledge that describes behavioral and social characteristics of the narwhal. As part of this project, elders from four communities in Canada and Greenland will be interviewed in digital audio and video formats to record their insights, perceptions, and observations based on hundreds of years of collective experience. Each of these parallel perceptions has shared points that contribute to, guide, and challenge past studies and direct current findings about the tusk.