© 2026 Kansas City Public Radio
NPR in Kansas City
Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations

DNA Testing Solves The Case Of The Unknown Skull In Denmark Museum

RACHEL MARTIN, HOST:

Good morning. I'm Rachel Martin. For the past 30 years, a bizarre-looking skull has been sitting inside the Natural History Museum of Denmark. No one knew much about it besides that it came from Greenland and looked like a narwhal - those whales with unicorn tusks. But it had these really bizarre teeth. New DNA testing has now solved the case. The animal's mother was a narwhal, the father a tuskless beluga, making their offspring a narluga. Scientists say it's a bizarre hybrid, but love is strange and wondrous. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.

KCUR is here for Kansas City, because Kansas City is here for KCUR.

Your support makes KCUR's work possible — from reporting that keeps officials accountable, to storytelling that connects our community. You can make sure the future of local journalism is strong.