Joy S. Gaylinn Reidenberg is an American

comparative anatomist Comparative anatomy is the study of similarities and differences in the anatomy of different species. It is closely related to evolutionary biology and phylogeny (the evolution of species). The science began in the classical era, continuing in t ...

specializing in the vocal and breathing apparatus of mammals, particularly

cetacea Cetacea (; , ) is an infraorder of aquatic mammals belonging to the order Artiodactyla that includes whales, dolphins and porpoises. Key characteristics are their fully aquatic lifestyle, streamlined body shape, often large size and exclusively c ...

ns (

whale Whales are a widely distributed and diverse group of fully Aquatic animal, aquatic placental mammal, placental marine mammals. As an informal and Colloquialism, colloquial grouping, they correspond to large members of the infraorder Cetacea ...

s, including

dolphin A dolphin is an aquatic mammal in the cetacean clade Odontoceti (toothed whale). Dolphins belong to the families Delphinidae (the oceanic dolphins), Platanistidae (the Indian river dolphins), Iniidae (the New World river dolphins), Pontopori ...

s and

porpoise Porpoises () are small Oceanic dolphin, dolphin-like cetaceans classified under the family Phocoenidae. Although similar in appearance to dolphins, they are more closely related to narwhals and Beluga whale, belugas than to the Oceanic dolphi ...

s). She is best known as the Comparative Anatomist in the TV science documentary series ''

Inside Nature's Giants ''Inside Nature's Giants'' is a British science documentary, first broadcast in June 2009 by Channel 4. The documentary shows experts performing dissection on some of nature's largest animals, including whales and elephants. The programme is pre ...

'' where she has dissected a number of animals varying in species. In addition, Reidenberg has also contributed to several other TV documentaries centered around animal life and anatomy. Throughout her career, she has received numerous awards ranging from academic honors to film and recognition awards. In 2024, she has also participated in the first dissection of a rare species of whale.

Education

Reidenberg became interested in animal science and art as a high school student. She earned a bachelor's degree (B.A.) from

Cornell University Cornell University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university based in Ithaca, New York, United States. The university was co-founded by American philanthropist Ezra Cornell and historian and educator Andrew Dickson W ...

in 1983, a master's (M.Phil.) from the

Mount Sinai School of Medicine The Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai (ISMMS or Mount Sinai), formerly the Mount Sinai School of Medicine, is a private medical school in New York City, New York, United States. The school is the academic teaching arm of the Mount Sina ...

Graduate Program in Biological Sciences in 1985, and a doctorate (Ph.D.) in Biomedical Sciences: Anatomy in 1988. There, she worked with anthropologist

Jeffrey Laitman Jeffrey Todd Laitman (born October 13, 1951) is an American anatomist and physical anthropologist whose science has combined experimental, comparative, and paleontological studies to understand the development and evolution of the human upper respi ...

Career

Media

In 2009, a British production company now known as

Windfall Films Argonon Ltd is an independent media group founded in 2011 by James Burstall, the CEO of Leopard Films. Argonon has offices in London, Los Angeles, New York, Oklahoma, and Glasgow. The group produces and distributes factual entertainment, docu ...

approached her about coming to

Ireland Ireland (, ; ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe. Geopolitically, the island is divided between the Republic of Ireland (officially Names of the Irish state, named Irelan ...

on short notice to help dissect a 19.8 m (65 ft)

fin whale The fin whale (''Balaenoptera physalus''), also known as the finback whale or common rorqual, is a species of baleen whale and the second-longest cetacean after the blue whale. The biggest individual reportedly measured in length, wi ...

that had washed up on the south coast. She conducted the dissection, and the company was so happy with her performance that they asked her to become a regular contributor to ''Inside Nature's Giants'', dissecting a variety of animals (18 episodes in total), and explaining their anatomy. These animals include:

sperm whale The sperm whale or cachalot (''Physeter macrocephalus'') is the largest of the toothed whales and the largest toothed predator. It is the only living member of the Genus (biology), genus ''Physeter'' and one of three extant species in the s ...

lion The lion (''Panthera leo'') is a large Felidae, cat of the genus ''Panthera'', native to Sub-Saharan Africa and India. It has a muscular, broad-chested body (biology), body; a short, rounded head; round ears; and a dark, hairy tuft at the ...

tiger The tiger (''Panthera tigris'') is a large Felidae, cat and a member of the genus ''Panthera'' native to Asia. It has a powerful, muscular body with a large head and paws, a long tail and orange fur with black, mostly vertical stripes. It is ...

elephant Elephants are the largest living land animals. Three living species are currently recognised: the African bush elephant ('' Loxodonta africana''), the African forest elephant (''L. cyclotis''), and the Asian elephant ('' Elephas maximus ...

giraffe The giraffe is a large Fauna of Africa, African even-toed ungulate, hoofed mammal belonging to the genus ''Giraffa.'' It is the Largest mammals#Even-toed Ungulates (Artiodactyla), tallest living terrestrial animal and the largest ruminant on ...

hippo The hippopotamus (''Hippopotamus amphibius;'' ; : hippopotamuses), often shortened to hippo (: hippos), further qualified as the common hippopotamus, Nile hippopotamus and river hippopotamus, is a large semiaquatic Mammal, mammal native to su ...

crocodile Crocodiles (family (biology), family Crocodylidae) or true crocodiles are large, semiaquatic reptiles that live throughout the tropics in Africa, Asia, the Americas and Australia. The term "crocodile" is sometimes used more loosely to include ...

python Python may refer to: Snakes * Pythonidae, a family of nonvenomous snakes found in Africa, Asia, and Australia ** ''Python'' (genus), a genus of Pythonidae found in Africa and Asia * Python (mythology), a mythical serpent Computing * Python (prog ...

great white shark The great white shark (''Carcharodon carcharias''), also known as the white shark, white pointer, or simply great white, is a species of large Lamniformes, mackerel shark which can be found in the coastal surface waters of all the major ocea ...

giant squid The giant squid (''Architeuthis dux'') is a species of deep-ocean dwelling squid A squid (: squid) is a mollusc with an elongated soft body, large eyes, eight cephalopod limb, arms, and two tentacles in the orders Myopsida, Oegopsida, ...

camel A camel (from and () from Ancient Semitic: ''gāmāl'') is an even-toed ungulate in the genus ''Camelus'' that bears distinctive fatty deposits known as "humps" on its back. Camels have long been domesticated and, as livestock, they provid ...

kangaroo Kangaroos are marsupials from the family Macropodidae (macropods, meaning "large foot"). In common use, the term is used to describe the largest species from this family, the red kangaroo, as well as the antilopine kangaroo, eastern gre ...

cassowary Cassowaries (; Biak: ''man suar'' ; ; Papuan: ''kasu weri'' ) are flightless birds of the genus ''Casuarius'', in the order Casuariiformes. They are classified as ratites, flightless birds without a keel on their sternum bones. Cassowaries a ...

baboon Baboons are primates comprising the biology, genus ''Papio'', one of the 23 genera of Old World monkeys, in the family Cercopithecidae. There are six species of baboon: the hamadryas baboon, the Guinea baboon, the olive baboon, the yellow ba ...

, leatherback sea turtle,

polar bear The polar bear (''Ursus maritimus'') is a large bear native to the Arctic and nearby areas. It is closely related to the brown bear, and the two species can Hybrid (biology), interbreed. The polar bear is the largest extant species of bear ...

race horse ''Race Horse'' was an 1850 clipper barque. She set a record of 109 days from New York to San Francisco during the first Clipper Race around the Horn. Construction ''Race Horse'' was similar to a barque built by Samuel Hall a few years earlier, ...

, giant jungle

insect Insects (from Latin ') are Hexapoda, hexapod invertebrates of the class (biology), class Insecta. They are the largest group within the arthropod phylum. Insects have a chitinous exoskeleton, a three-part body (Insect morphology#Head, head, ...

s. Reidenberg has also starred in the 4-episode series "Sex in the Wild" (on

PBS The Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) is an American public broadcaster and non-commercial, free-to-air television network based in Arlington, Virginia. PBS is a publicly funded nonprofit organization and the most prominent provider of educat ...

in the

USA The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 contiguous ...

), also known as "Born in the Wild" (on

Channel 4 Channel 4 is a British free-to-air public broadcast television channel owned and operated by Channel Four Television Corporation. It is state-owned enterprise, publicly owned but, unlike the BBC, it receives no public funding and is funded en ...

in the UK), about animal reproduction in

orangutan Orangutans are great apes native to the rainforests of Indonesia and Malaysia. They are now found only in parts of Borneo and Sumatra, but during the Pleistocene they ranged throughout Southeast Asia and South China. Classified in the genus ...

s (and other

primate Primates is an order (biology), order of mammals, which is further divided into the Strepsirrhini, strepsirrhines, which include lemurs, galagos, and Lorisidae, lorisids; and the Haplorhini, haplorhines, which include Tarsiiformes, tarsiers a ...

s),

s (and other whales), and kangaroos (and other marsupials). She was also featured in a 3-day live series called "Big Blue Live" on

about marine life in

Monterey Bay Monterey Bay is a bay of the Pacific Ocean located on the coast of the U.S. state of California, south of the San Francisco Bay Area. San Francisco itself is further north along the coast, by about 75 miles (120 km), accessible via California S ...

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

. In November 2013, she held a TED Talk about the respiratory functions of whales and how they are used in communication and echolocation. She has also made appearances in many other TV documentaries on

BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...

CBC CBC may refer to: Media * Cadena Baja California or Grupo Cadena, a radio and television broadcaster in Mexico * Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, Canada's radio and television public broadcaster ** CBC Television ** CBC Radio One ** CBC Music ** ...

, SBS, NatGeo,

Science Channel Science Channel (often simply branded as Science; abbreviated to SCI) is an American pay television channel owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. The channel features programming focusing on science related to wilderness survival, engineering, manu ...

Discovery Discovery may refer to: * Discovery (observation), observing or finding something unknown * Discovery (fiction), a character's learning something unknown * Discovery (law), a process in courts of law relating to evidence Discovery, The Discovery ...

(UK), and many other networks, including: * ''Mythical Beasts]'', in various episodes. * ''Lost Beasts Unearthed'', in various episodes. * An episode of Nature (TV program), ''Nature'', titled "The Whale Detective" * An episode of ''Natural World'', titled "Humpback Whales: A Detective Story" * In episode 2 of ''

Brave New World with Stephen Hawking ''Brave New World with Stephen Hawking'' is a 2011 science documentary television mini-series presented by Professor Stephen Hawking who examines how science is striving for humankind's next leap forward. The series has been released in DVD fo ...

.'' * An episode of ''Wild Alaska Live.'' * An episode of ''NOVA'' titled "When Whales Could Walk." * An episode of ''The Nature of Things'' titled "The Mystery of the Walking Whale."

Academic

Reidenberg works in

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

and is a professor at the

Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai The Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai (ISMMS or Mount Sinai), formerly the Mount Sinai School of Medicine, is a private medical school in New York City, New York, United States. The school is the academic teaching arm of the Mount Sina ...

's Center for Anatomy and Functional Morphology, where she teaches in the Structures Course (Gross Anatomy, Histology, Embryology, and Imaging). She was also the Course Director for General Anatomy at the

New York College of Podiatric Medicine The New York College of Podiatric Medicine (NYCPM) is a private podiatric medical school in New York City, New York. It is the oldest and second largest podiatric medical school in the United States. History Founded in 1911, NYCPM was the first ...

. from 2014-2020.

Spade-toothed whale dissection

On December 2, 2024, Joy Reidenberg participated in a week-long dissection of a 5-meter (16.4 ft) male

spade-toothed whale The spade-toothed whale (''Mesoplodon traversii'') is the rarest species of beaked whale. Only six confirmed specimens have ever been found, over the timespan from 1872 to 2024. All six were found in the South Pacificfive in New Zealand and one ...

New Zealand New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...

. She was one of three US anatomists to join the dissection, led by Te Rūnanga o Ōtākou, partnering with Te Papa Atawhai, the Tuhura Otago Museum, and the

University of Otago The University of Otago () is a public university, public research university, research collegiate university based in Dunedin, Otago, New Zealand. Founded in 1869, Otago is New Zealand's oldest university and one of the oldest universities in ...

. The dissection was the first of its kind, as only 6 specimens of the species have been recorded as of 2024. She was fascinated by working with the

Māori people Māori () are the Indigenous peoples of Oceania, indigenous Polynesians, Polynesian people of mainland New Zealand. Māori originated with settlers from East Polynesia, who arrived in New Zealand in several waves of Māori migration canoes, c ...

, along with learning their beliefs and practices.

Awards

References

External links

*
Joy Reidenberg's university homepage

Joy Reidenberg
at The New York Consortium in Evolutionary Primatology {{DEFAULTSORT:Reidenberg, Joy Living people American anatomists American women biologists 1961 births Cornell University alumni 21st-century American women scientists 21st-century American biologists Women anatomists 21st-century anatomists Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai alumni Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai faculty