Using Inuit Qaujimajatuqangit, Tradtional Knowledge, To Guide The Development Of Hypothses On Narwhal Tusk Function

该奖项是根据2009年美国复苏和再投资法案（公法111-5）资助的。独角鲸仍然是地球上最不了解的海洋哺乳动物之一，它非凡的牙齿是一个谜。在过去的500年里，一头难以捉摸的鲸鱼挑战了科学家的头脑。 Martin Nweeia博士结合了一个由科学家和因纽特老人和猎人组成的跨学科团队，以更好地了解自然界最令人困惑的牙齿的解剖，行为和神经生理学。 雄性独角鲸的左犬齿无视牙齿表达的许多原则和特性，从它的结构到它独特的螺旋形。 为什么这种象牙会成为许多牙齿进化规则的例外，这一直是Nweeia博士十年研究的主题。这项研究的结果将揭示来自巴芬岛东北部和格陵兰岛西北部高北极地区超过12个社区的55名猎人和老人的采访记录。这些采访将被翻译，然后与科学发现相结合，以更全面地了解独角鲸。通过分析独角鲸的迁徙、分布、行为、解剖、饮食以及本访谈集中描述的全球变暖趋势的影响，将揭示这种鲸鱼及其非凡象牙的更完整的画面。 Nweeia博士的研究让所有年龄段的孩子都保持好奇心。 三部电视纪录片、15个广播节目、数百篇杂志和报纸文章以及互联网网站都表明了公众对独角鲸、独角鲸象牙和这项正在进行的研究的兴趣。这项工作的结果将在一本书中出版，其中包括传统知识和正在进行的科学研究的结果。描述独角鲸解剖学、生理学、迁徙和行为的原始艺术和图形板也将完成并纳入书中，以及博物馆展品。

This award is funded under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (Public Law 111-5).The narwhal remains one of the least understood marine mammals on the planet, and its extraordinary tooth, a mystery. Mythical legends of the unicorn are only surpassed by the reality of an elusive whale that has challenged scientific minds for the past 500 years. Dr. Martin Nweeia combines an interdisciplinary team of scientists and Inuit elders and hunters to better understand the anatomy, behavior, and neurophysiology of nature's most perplexing tooth. The left canine of the male narwhal defies many principals and properties of tooth expression, from its architecture to its unique spiraled form. Why this tusk has become the exception to many of the evolutionary rules of teeth has been the subject of Dr. Nweeia's ten-year investigation.Results from this study will uncover the knowledge recorded in the interviews of 55 hunters and elders from over 12 communities in the High Arctic regions of Northeastern Baffin Island and Northwestern Greenland. These interviews will be translated and then integrated with scientific findings to bring a more complete understanding of the narwhal. By analyzing aspects of narwhal migration, distribution, behavior, anatomy, diet, and affects of global warming trends that are described in this collection of interviews, a more complete picture of this whale and its extraordinary tusk will be uncovered. Dr. Nweeia's research keeps children of all ages curious. Three television documentaries, 15 radio programs, and hundreds of magazine and newspaper articles, and Internet sites demonstrate the public appetite for knowledge about the narwhal, its tusk, and this ongoing study. Findings from this work will be published in a book that includes the findings of the Traditional Knowledge and the ongoing scientific studies. Original art and graphic plates describing narwhal anatomy, physiology, migration, and behavior will also be completed and incorporated in to the book, as well as Museum exhibits.