Noun
An anatomical structure in the heads of certain cetaceans involved in the production of clicks and other sounds.
Usage- plural
- plural-normally
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More examples (3)
Each monkey lips/dorsal bursae complex (MLDB) is associated with one (right and left) air passage. Each complex is composed of at least two fatty bursae that are embedded in the monkey lips along the airway, a cartilagenous “stiffening” rod, and a stout ligament.
This finding is not only excluding a laryngeal sound source, but also demonstrating that the sound source for click generation in sperm whales is indeed the monkey lips.
In the forefront of the skull, the spermaceti organ ends in a pair of black lips of connective tissue (monkey lips) that produce sounds by way of a pneumatic action. The monkey lips are also connected to the right side of the nasal passage and to the distal air sac, another ‘sound mirror’ at the front end of the head.
Used other than figuratively or idiomatically: see monkey, lip.
Usage- plural
- plural-normally