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The Walking Whales The Walking Whales From Land to Water in Eight Million Years J. G. M. “Hans” Thewissen with illustrations by Jacqueline Dillard university of california press University of California Press, one of the most distinguished university presses in the United States, enriches lives around the world by advancing scholarship in the humanities, social sciences, and natural sciences. Its activities are supported by the UC Press Foundation and by philanthropic contributions from individuals and institutions. For more information, visit www.ucpress.edu. University of California Press Oakland, California © 2014 by The Regents of the University of California Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Thewissen, J. G. M., author. The walking whales : from land to water in eight million years / J.G.M. Thewissen ; with illustrations by Jacqueline Dillard. pages cm Includes bibliographical references and index. isbn 978-0-520-27706-9 (cloth : alk. paper)— isbn 978-0-520-95941-5 (e-book) 1. Whales, Fossil—Pakistan. 2. Whales, Fossil—India. 3. Whales—Evolution. 4. Paleontology—Pakistan. 5. Paleontology—India. I. Title. QE882.C5T484 2015 569′.5—dc23 2014003531 Printed in China 23 22 21 20 19 18 17 16 15 14 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 The paper used in this publication meets the minimum requirements of ansi/niso z39.48–1992 (r 2002) (Permanence of Paper). Cover illustration (clockwise from top right): Basilosaurus, Ambulocetus, Indohyus, Pakicetus, and Kutchicetus. These are the animals that show that whales once had land-living ancestors. The background of this painting is a composite: these animals did not live in the same habitat or the at the same time. This book is dedicated to all the students, postdocs, fossil preparators, and technicians who worked in my lab and made this journey scientifi cally exciting as well as fun, in chronological order: Sandy, Ellen, Tony, Mary, Lauren, Mary Elizabeth, Amy, Lisa, Brooke, Sirpa, Rick, Bobbi Jo, Meghan, Sharon, Jenny, Denise, Summer, and Ashley. And it is dedicated to Elizabeth, for her encouragement. And it is dedicated to my mother, who supported everything I did enthusiastically. .

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The Walking Whales
The Walking Whales From Land to Water in Eight Million Years J. G. M. “Hans” Thewissen with illustrations by Jacqueline Dillard university of california press The Walking Whales The Walking Whales From Land to Water in Eight Million Years J. G. M. “Hans” Thewissen with illustrations by Jacqueline Dillard university of california press University of California Press, one of the most distinguished university presses in the United States, enriches lives around the world by advancing scholarship in the humanities, social sciences, and natural sciences. Its activities are supported by the UC Press Foundation and by philanthropic contributions from individuals and institutions. For more information, visit www.ucpress.edu. University of California Press Oakland, California © 2014 by The Regents of the University of California Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Thewissen, J. G. M., author. The walking whales : from land to water in eight million years / J.G.M. Thewissen ; with illustrations by Jacqueline Dillard. pages cm Includes bibliographical references and index. isbn 978-0-520-27706-9 (cloth : alk. paper)— isbn 978-0-520-95941-5 (e-book) 1. Whales, Fossil—Pakistan. 2. Whales, Fossil—India. 3. Whales—Evolution. 4. Paleontology—Pakistan. 5. Paleontology—India. I. Title. QE882.C5T484 2015 569′.5—dc23 2014003531 Printed in China 23 22 21 20 19 18 17 16 15 14 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 The paper used in this publication meets the minimum requirements of ansi/niso z39.48–1992 (r 2002) (Permanence of Paper). Cover illustration (clockwise from top right): Basilosaurus, Ambulocetus, Indohyus, Pakicetus, and Kutchicetus.
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Not for Sale
NOT FOR SALE © Roberts and Company Publishers, ISBN: 9781936221448, due August 23, 2013, For examination purposes only FINAL PAGES NOT FOR SALE The earliest whales, such as the 47-million-year-old Ambulocetus, still had legs. Their anatomy gives us clues to how whales made the transition from land to sea. © Roberts and Company Publishers, ISBN: 9781936221448, due August 23, 2013, For examination purposes only FINAL PAGES NOT FOR SALE Walking 1 Whales Introducing Evolution ne of the best feelings paleontologists can ever have is to realize that they’ve just found a fossil that will fll an empty space in our understanding Oof the history of life. Hans Thewissen got to enjoy that feeling one day in 1993, as he dug a 47-million-year-old fossil out of a hillside in Pakistan. As he picked away the rocks surrounding the FIGURE 1.1 bones of a strange mammal, he suddenly realized what he had Paleontologist Hans Thewissen has discovered many of the bones of found: a whale with legs. Ambulocetus in Pakistan. A hundred million years ago, not a single whale swam in all the world’s oceans. Whales did not yet exist, but their ancestors did. At the time, they were small, furry mammals that walked on land. Over millions of years, some of the descendants of those ancestors underwent a mind-boggling transformation. They lost their legs, traded their nostrils for a blowhole, and became crea- tures of the sea. This profound change was the result of evolution. 3 © Roberts and Company Publishers, ISBN: 9781936221448, due August 23, 2013, For examination purposes only FINAL PAGES NOTThis bookFOR is an introduction to that SALE process.
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A Brief History of Whale Evolution: As Supported by The
A Brief History of Whale Evolution As Supported By the Fossil Record BIOB 272 – Genetics and Evolution Presented by Mindy Flanders Presented for Rick Henry December 8, 2017 Cetaceans—whales, dolphins, and porpoises—are so different from other animals that, until recently, scientists were unable to identify their closest relatives. As any elementary student knows, a whale is not a fish. That means that despite the similarities in where they live and how they look, whales are not at all like salmon or even sharks. Carolus Linnaeus, known for classifying plants and animals, noted in the 1750s that “whales breathe air through lungs not gills; are warm blooded; and have many other anatomical differences that distinguish them from fish” (Prothero, 2015). Other characteristics cetaceans share with all other mammals are: they have hair (at some point in their life), they give birth to live young, and they nurse their young with milk. This implies that whales evolved from other mammals and, because ancestral mammals were land animals, that whales had land ancestors (Thewissen & Bajpai, 2001). But before they had land ancestors they had water ancestors. The ancestors of fish lived in water, too. Up until 375 million years ago (mya), everything other than plants and insects lived in water, but it was around that time that fish and land animals began to diverge. A series of fossils represent the fish-to-tetrapod transition that occurred during the Late Devonian Period 359-383 mya (Herron & Freeman, 2014). In search of a new food source, or to escape predators more than twice their size (Prothero, 2015), the first tetrapods pushed themselves out of the swamps and began to live on land (Switek, 2010).
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Sound Transmission in Archaic and Modern Whales: Anatomical Adaptations for Underwater Hearing
THE ANATOMICAL RECORD 290:716–733 (2007) Sound Transmission in Archaic and Modern Whales: Anatomical Adaptations for Underwater Hearing SIRPA NUMMELA,1,2* J.G.M. THEWISSEN,1 SUNIL BAJPAI,3 4 5 TASEER HUSSAIN, AND KISHOR KUMAR 1Department of Anatomy, Northeastern Ohio Universities College of Medicine, Rootstown, Ohio 2Department of Biological and Environmental Sciences, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland 3Department of Earth Sciences, Indian Institute of Technology, Roorkee, Uttaranchal, India 4Department of Anatomy, Howard University, College of Medicine, Washington, DC 5Wadia Institute of Himalayan Geology, Dehradun, Uttaranchal, India ABSTRACT The whale ear, initially designed for hearing in air, became adapted for hearing underwater in less than ten million years of evolution. This study describes the evolution of underwater hearing in cetaceans, focusing on changes in sound transmission mechanisms. Measurements were made on 60 fossils of whole or partial skulls, isolated tympanics, middle ear ossicles, and mandibles from all six archaeocete families. Fossil data were compared with data on two families of modern mysticete whales and nine families of modern odontocete cetaceans, as well as ﬁve families of non- cetacean mammals. Results show that the outer ear pinna and external auditory meatus were functionally replaced by the mandible and the man- dibular fat pad, which posteriorly contacts the tympanic plate, the lateral wall of the bulla. Changes in the ear include thickening of the tympanic bulla medially, isolation of the tympanoperiotic complex by means of air sinuses, functional replacement of the tympanic membrane by a bony plate, and changes in ossicle shapes and orientation. Pakicetids, the ear- liest archaeocetes, had a land mammal ear for hearing in air, and used bone conduction underwater, aided by the heavy tympanic bulla.
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Whales on Trees!
Whales on Trees! How Many Times Did Mammals Return to the Sea? David Form Nashoba Regional High School Cetaceans Pinnipeds Sirenians Evolution of the Whales Mesonychids: Wolf - Related or Wolf-Like? Whales on Trees! Using DNA Evidence to Unravel the Story of the Evolution of the Whales There are three groups of mammals that live in the oceans; the whales and dolphins (the cetaceans), the seals and sea lions (the pinnipeds) and the manatees and dugongs (the sirenians). We can use DNA evidence to determine if the mammals returned to the sea only once or sea-dwelling mammals evolved on several occasions. If the first case is true, then the cetaceans, pinnipeds and sirenians will be more closely related to each other than to any land-dwelling mammals. On the other hand, if each of these groups are more closely related to different land-dwelling mammals, this would indicate that the ability to live in the water evolved several times in the mammals. The fossil evidence tells us that whales evolved from land dwelling mammals, known as mesonychids. These carnivorous animals have a wolf-like appearance. The fossil record shows a progression from mesonychids to the otter-like Pakicetus, to a walking whale, Amubulocetus, to progressively more whale-like creatures. All of these animals have certain unique bones in common, morphological evidence that they are related. So, does this tell us that whales are related to wolves, or were the mesonychids and Pakicetus, just wolf-like in appearance; an example of convergent evolution? We will use DNA evidence to help us to answer these evolutionary questions.
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Pakicetus Were Similar to Land Images
S u p p l e m e n t Whale Ears By Dr. Carl Werner A p p e n d i x 1 S u p p l e m e n t S u p p l e m e n t First Edition Version 7 Introduction © Copyright May 2014, Audio Visual Consultants, Inc. Author’s Note: This supplement to Appen- Before proceeding, it would be best to first Copyright © 2014 by Carl Werner. All rights reserved. dix F of Evolution: The Grand Experiment (3rd read Chapter 13 and Appendix F of the 3rd No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any edition) provides important information about edition of Evolution: The Grand Experiment. manner whatsoever without written permission of the the function and gross anatomy of the external Next, it is very important to read the press publisher except in the case of brief quotations in articles and middle ear of land animals, whales and release at TheGrandExperiment.com under the and reviews. For more information contact Dr. Werner purported “walking whales.” This material was “Whale Evolution” tab. Finally, take a brief through the Grand Experiment web page. not included in the book, the e-book or the video look at the chart below detailing the classifica- series because of space considerations. tion of whales and dolphins in the mammal order called Cetacea. You will then be prepared Please visit our web site for other great titles: to better understand this important information. www.TheGrandExperiment.com Cetacea Odontocete Mysticete (Cetacea with Teeth) (Cetacea without Teeth) Toothed Whales Toothed Dolphins Baleen Whales -Orca Whale -Bottlenose Dolphin -Humpback Whale -Sperm Whale -Spinner Dolphin -Gray Whale -Beluga Whale -Atlantic Spotted Dolphin -Right Whale -Etc.
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Evolution and Development of Cetacean Appendages Across the Cetartiodactylan Land-To-Sea Transition
EVOLUTION AND DEVELOPMENT OF CETACEAN APPENDAGES A dissertation submitted to Kent State University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy by Lisa Noelle Cooper December, 2009 Dissertation written by Lisa Noelle Cooper B.S., Montana State University, 1999 M.S., San Diego State University, 2004 Ph.D., Kent State University, 2009 Approved by _____________________________________, Chair, Doctoral Dissertation Committee J.G.M. Thewissen _____________________________________, Members, Doctoral Dissertation Committee Walter E. Horton, Jr. _____________________________________, Christopher Vinyard _____________________________________, Jeff Wenstrup Accepted by _____________________________________, Director, School of Biomedical Sciences Robert V. Dorman _____________________________________, Dean, College of Arts and Sciences Timothy Moerland ii TABLE OF CONTENTS LIST OF FIGURES ........................................................................................................................... v LIST OF TABLELS ......................................................................................................................... vii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS .............................................................................................................. viii Chapters Page I INTRODUCTION ................................................................................................................ 1 The Eocene Raoellid Indohyus ........................................................................................
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The Evolution of Whales
The Evolution of Whales Geology 331 Whales Prothero, 2007 Evolution of Whales 1990s Evolution of Whales 2000s Prothero, 2007 Archaeocetes The two major groups of living whales: Mysticetes (baleen) and Odontocetes (toothed) Blue Whale, Humpback Whale, Sperm Whale, and Killer Whale Whale baleen Tertiary Outcrops Yielding Fossil Whales in Asia Closing of the Tethys Sea during the Cenozoic Indohyus: 48 MY old Pakicetus: 50 MY old Ambulocetus: 49 MY old Basilosaurus: 37 MY old Dorudon: 35 MY old Pakicetus: 50 MY old Size comparison with a modern coyote skull Ambulocetus: 49 MY old Ambulocetus in action Reconstruction of the fossil whale Ambulocetus from the Eocene of Pakistan (~ 49 million years ago). Ambulocetus was discovered in 1994. In this artists reconstruction, Ambulocetus is shown living like a crocodile, hunting land mammals near the shore. Rodhocetus: 46 MY old The ankle bones of Rodhocetus are more similar to artiodactyls (even-toed ungulates) than the traditional mesonychian ancestor. Ocean Hall, Smithsonian Institution Kutchicetus: 45 MY old 5 2 3 1 4 15 MY of evolution during the Eocene Evolutionary Order: 1, Pakicetus; 2, Ambulocetus; 3, Rodhocetus; 4, Kutchicetus; 5, Dorudon Basilosaurus: 37 MY old Ankle, foot, and toes of Basilosaurus excavated in Wadi Hitan, Egypt. The foot as shown is approximately 12 cm long. Photograph ©1991 Philip Gingerich. Phil Gingerich’s work on fossil whales http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I2C-3PjNGok Dr. B. Holly Smith working at the base of the tail at a Basilosaurus excavation in Wadi Hitan, Egypt. We are particularly interested in this part of the skeleton because this is where the reduced hind limbs, feet, and toes are found.
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Investigate How Whales Evolved from Living on Land to Life in the Sea
WHALES: Giants of the Deep Activities for Grades 9-12 Investigate How Whales Evolved from Living on Land to Life in the Sea Overview NYS Science Core Curriculum Before Your Visit: Students will discuss what makes a whale a LE 3.1a: The basic theory of mammal and read about the placement of whales in the Tree of Life. biological evolution states that the Earth’s present-day species During Your Visit: Students will observe features and gather developed from earlier, distinctly evidence to support the claim that the ancestors of present-day different species. whales lived on land. After Your Visit: Students will use the evidence collected from observing fossil specimens and reading labels at the Museum to write an explanation of how whales evolved from terrestrial to aquatic animals. Background for Educators Recent molecular and fossil discoveries show the close relationship of whales to even-toed ungulates, the artiodactyls (i.e. cow, sheep, hippopotamus). In fact, their closest relatives are hippos. The ancestors of whales lived on land about 50 million years ago. Known collectively as Archeocetes, or ancient whales, they might have moved into water in part because of environmental factors – a hot period on Earth. Once whales adapted to water, they diversified and came to inhabit the world’s oceans. Almost 80 spe- cies of Cetaceans are alive today. Scientists study both living and fossil species, and use both anatomy and genetic evidence to understand how these intelligent mammals evolved and where they fit in the Tree of Life. Additional information about the evolution of whales: http://evolution.berkeley.edu/evolibrary/article/evograms_03 Before Your Visit Activity 1: Discussion of What Makes a Whale a Mammal Plan how your students will explore the Whales exhibition Ask students to work in groups of two or three to list all basic using the worksheets.
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Unit 3: What Is the Evidence for Evolution?
Unit 3 What Is the Evidence for Evolution? Evolution TV Shows “Great Transformations” and “Extinction!” ammals evolved on land over 200 million years ago. So how did the world’s largest mammals, whales, end up back in the Mwater? That’s the question Dr. Philip Gingerich, a paleontolo- gist at the University of Michigan, would like to answer. Gingerich became intrigued when he found what looked like the fossil skull of an early wolf in Pakistan in 1978. But when he closely examined this wolf-like skull, he found the ear of a whale! This was the ﬁrst fossil ever found that supported one of Darwin’s most controversial ideas—that At a Glance whales had descended from land mammals. Learning Goals Whales are anatomically so different from any other mammals that they’re Understand the importance of evidence in a separate branch of mammal evolution. Had Gingerich found the begin- supporting Darwin’s theory of evolution ning of that branch? The skull he found was among land mammal fossils, Understand that the fossil record shows not in a marine layer of rock. Gingerich named the creature Pakicetus, increasing diversity and large scale changes over time whale from Pakistan. Was Pakicetus the land mammal whose descendants became modern whales? Recognize why gaps in fossil evidence exist Know how different lines of evidence are used Gingerich wanted to return to Pakistan to ﬁnd the animal’s legs. War to determine evolutionary relationships nearby kept him from returning. Instead, he went to a place called between different species Zeuglodon Valley, Valley of the Whales, in Egypt.
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Walking with Whales.Pdf
news and views Walking with whales Christian de Muizon Whales must have evolved from land-based mammals, but fossil evidence of some of the steps in between has been patchy. Newly discovered skeletons with legs fill in the gaps. n page 277 of this issue, Thewissen and colleagues1 describe their discovery of u.p. Opartial fossil skeletons from the earliest cetaceans — a group of mammals that today consists of whales, porpoises and dolphins. The fossils, which are some 50 million years Diacodexis old and were found in Pakistan, take us a huge step forwards in understanding the origins and evolutionary relationships of Phenacodus Pachyaena whales. Until now, the limbs of all known u.p. early cetaceans reflected an amphibious or 2–6 wholly aquatic lifestyle . But the newly Pakicetus discovered fossils show that the first whales l.p. were fully terrestrial, and were even efficient runners. They also reveal that cetaceans are Pakicetus Diacodexis Sus more closely related to the oldest known even-toed ungulates — a group of hoofed Ambulocetus mammals that includes cows, hippos, pigs, Figure 2 Ankle bones (astragali) of hoofed 17 camels and giraffes — than to any other Pelvis and mammals and primitive whales. Phenacodus , hindlimb mammals. These conclusions are based on Dorudon a primitive ungulate, had an unspecialized solid anatomical data, and contradict the ankle bone that resembles that of Pachyaena17, previous hypotheses of both palaeontolo- Pelvis and a mesonychian ungulate from 50 million years gists and molecular biologists7–10. hindlimb Balaena ago. The double-pulleyed astragali of Pakicetus All of the mammals that existed in the early (one of the fossil cetaceans described by Tertiary — some 65–50 million years ago — Figure 1 The evolutionary route to a whale.
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A New Eocene Archaeocete (Mammalia, Cetacea) from India and the Time of Origin of Whales
Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA Vol. 95, pp. 15464–15468, December 1998 Evolution A new Eocene archaeocete (Mammalia, Cetacea) from India and the time of origin of whales SUNIL BAJPAI* AND PHILIP D. GINGERICH†‡ *Department of Earth Sciences, University of Roorkee, Roorkee 247667, Uttar Pradesh, India; and †Museum of Paleontology and Department of Geological Sciences, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI 48019-1079 Communicated by Elwyn L. Simons, Duke University Primate Center, Durham, NC, October 15, 1998 (received for review October 9, 1998) ABSTRACT Himalayacetus subathuensis is a new pakicetid Family Pakicetidae Gingerich & Russell 1990 archaeocete from the Subathu Formation of northern India. Himalayacetus subathuensis, new genus and species The type dentary has a small mandibular canal indicating a Etymology. Himalaya, Sanskrit, place of snow and cetus, lack of auditory specializations seen in more advanced ceta- Greek (masculine), whale; subathuensis refers to the Subathu ceans, and it has Pakicetus-like molar teeth suggesting that it Formation and Subathu type section in the Himalayan foothills fed on fish. Himalayacetus is significant because it is the oldest yielding the fossil described here. archaeocete known and because it was found in marine strata Holotype. Left dentary with molar teeth M2–3 (Figs. 1b and associated with a marine fauna. Himalayacetus extends the 2 a and b), Roorkee University Vertebrate Paleontology fossil record of whales about 3.5 million years back in geo- Laboratory [RUSB] specimen 2003, collected by A. Sahni, J.-J. logical time, to the middle part of the early Eocene ['53.5 Jaeger, V. Courtillot, and E. Buffetaut during a joint Panjab million years ago (Ma)].
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