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Whale Evolution Lab – Page 1
Whale Evolution Lab – Page 1 Whale Evolution Lab Adapted from http://www.indiana.edu/~ensiweb PRELAB (recommended)… FROM LAND TO WATER: A Whale Evolution Internet Activity http://www.indiana.edu/~ensiweb/lessons/whalekiosk.html Click on “SCREEN” to “Find Out More” A. Anatomy B. Fossil record C. Molecular evidence A. WHALE ANATOMY 1. What does the Latin word “cetus” mean? 2. What three groups of organisms are considered cetaceans? 3. What are the two subgroups of cetaceans? 4. What characterizes the subgroup Odontoceti? 5. What characterizes the subgroup Mysticeti? 6. Follow the instructions given to compare anatomical parts. Click on the labels to compare the whale’s anatomy with that of a fish and a cat. Fill out the chart below with your answers to each structure, by placing an “X” under the organism whose structure is more similar to the whale’s. Structure FISH CAT Structure FISH CAT Ears Forelimb Eyes Jaw Lungs Mammary gland 7. According to the anatomical evidence, which organism is more closely related to a whale…fish or cat? 8. Draw and label the cladogram that you created for the whale, fish, and cat below. 9. What is the relationship between whales and cats? B. FOSSIL RECORD 1. What is a fossil? 2. What are the most likely parts to become fossilized? 3. What are trace fossils? List some examples. 4. What is a coprolite? 5. What fossilized anatomical structure can be useful to anatomists? 6. Compare the fossil teeth of whales to the other organisms on the website. What sort of organism has fossil teeth most similar to whale teeth? 7. -
Thomas Jefferson Meg Tooth
The ECPHORA The Newsletter of the Calvert Marine Museum Fossil Club Volume 30 Number 3 September 2015 Thomas Jefferson Meg Tooth Features Thomas Jefferson Meg The catalogue number Review; Walking is: ANSP 959 Whales Inside The tooth came from Ricehope Estate, Snaggletooth Shark Cooper River, Exhibit South Carolina. Tiktaalik Clavatulidae In 1806, it was Juvenile Bald Eagle originally collected or Sculpting Whale Shark owned by Dr. William Moroccan Fossils Reid. Prints in the Sahara Volunteer Outing to Miocene-Pliocene National Geographic coastal plain sediments. Dolphins in the Chesapeake Sloth Tooth Found SharkFest Shark Iconography in Pre-Columbian Panama Hippo Skulls CT- Scanned Squalus sp. Teeth Sperm Whale Teeth On a recent trip to the Academy of Natural Sciences of Drexel University (Philadelphia), Collections Manager Ned Gilmore gave John Nance and me a behind -the-scenes highlights tour. Among the fossils that belonged to Thomas☼ Jefferson (left; American Founding Father, principal author of the Declaration of Independence, and third President of the United States) was this Carcharocles megalodon tooth. Jefferson’s interests and knowledge were encyclopedic; a delight to know that they included paleontology. Hand by J. Nance. Photo by S. Godfrey. Jefferson portrait from: http://www.biography.com/people/thomas-jefferson-9353715 ☼ CALVERT MARINE MUSEUM www.calvertmarinemuseum.com 2 The Ecphora September 2015 Book Review: The Walking 41 million years ago and has worldwide distribution. It was fully aquatic, although it did have residual Whales hind limbs. In later chapters, Professor Thewissen George F. Klein discusses limb development and various genetic factors that make whales, whales. This is a The full title of this book is The Walking complicated topic, but I found these chapters very Whales — From Land to Water in Eight Million clear and readable. -
The Origin and Early Evolution of Dinosaurs
Biol. Rev. (2010), 85, pp. 55–110. 55 doi:10.1111/j.1469-185X.2009.00094.x The origin and early evolution of dinosaurs Max C. Langer1∗,MartinD.Ezcurra2, Jonathas S. Bittencourt1 and Fernando E. Novas2,3 1Departamento de Biologia, FFCLRP, Universidade de S˜ao Paulo; Av. Bandeirantes 3900, Ribeir˜ao Preto-SP, Brazil 2Laboratorio de Anatomia Comparada y Evoluci´on de los Vertebrados, Museo Argentino de Ciencias Naturales ‘‘Bernardino Rivadavia’’, Avda. Angel Gallardo 470, Cdad. de Buenos Aires, Argentina 3CONICET (Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Cient´ıficas y T´ecnicas); Avda. Rivadavia 1917 - Cdad. de Buenos Aires, Argentina (Received 28 November 2008; revised 09 July 2009; accepted 14 July 2009) ABSTRACT The oldest unequivocal records of Dinosauria were unearthed from Late Triassic rocks (approximately 230 Ma) accumulated over extensional rift basins in southwestern Pangea. The better known of these are Herrerasaurus ischigualastensis, Pisanosaurus mertii, Eoraptor lunensis,andPanphagia protos from the Ischigualasto Formation, Argentina, and Staurikosaurus pricei and Saturnalia tupiniquim from the Santa Maria Formation, Brazil. No uncontroversial dinosaur body fossils are known from older strata, but the Middle Triassic origin of the lineage may be inferred from both the footprint record and its sister-group relation to Ladinian basal dinosauromorphs. These include the typical Marasuchus lilloensis, more basal forms such as Lagerpeton and Dromomeron, as well as silesaurids: a possibly monophyletic group composed of Mid-Late Triassic forms that may represent immediate sister taxa to dinosaurs. The first phylogenetic definition to fit the current understanding of Dinosauria as a node-based taxon solely composed of mutually exclusive Saurischia and Ornithischia was given as ‘‘all descendants of the most recent common ancestor of birds and Triceratops’’. -
Functional Morphology of the Vertebral Column in Remingtonocetus (Mammalia, Cetacea) and the Evolution of Aquatic Locomotion in Early Archaeocetes
Functional Morphology of the Vertebral Column in Remingtonocetus (Mammalia, Cetacea) and the Evolution of Aquatic Locomotion in Early Archaeocetes by Ryan Matthew Bebej A dissertation submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy (Ecology and Evolutionary Biology) in The University of Michigan 2011 Doctoral Committee: Professor Philip D. Gingerich, Co-Chair Professor Philip Myers, Co-Chair Professor Daniel C. Fisher Professor Paul W. Webb © Ryan Matthew Bebej 2011 To my wonderful wife Melissa, for her infinite love and support ii Acknowledgments First, I would like to thank each of my committee members. I will be forever grateful to my primary mentor, Philip D. Gingerich, for providing me the opportunity of a lifetime, studying the very organisms that sparked my interest in evolution and paleontology in the first place. His encouragement, patience, instruction, and advice have been instrumental in my development as a scholar, and his dedication to his craft has instilled in me the importance of doing careful and solid research. I am extremely grateful to Philip Myers, who graciously consented to be my co-advisor and co-chair early in my career and guided me through some of the most stressful aspects of life as a Ph.D. student (e.g., preliminary examinations). I also thank Paul W. Webb, for his novel thoughts about living in and moving through water, and Daniel C. Fisher, for his insights into functional morphology, 3D modeling, and mammalian paleobiology. My research was almost entirely predicated on cetacean fossils collected through a collaboration of the University of Michigan and the Geological Survey of Pakistan before my arrival in Ann Arbor. -
Why Much of What We Teach About Evolution Is Wrong/By Jonathan Wells
ON SCIENCE OR MYTH? Whymuch of what we teach about evolution is wrong Icons ofEvolution About the Author Jonathan Wells is no stranger to controversy. After spending two years in the U.S. Ar my from 1964 to 1966, he entered the University of California at Berkeley to become a science teacher. When the Army called him back from reser ve status in 1968, he chose to go to prison rather than continue to serve during the Vietnam War. He subsequently earned a Ph.D. in religious studies at Yale University, where he wrote a book about the nineteenth century Darwinian controversies. In 1989 he returned to Berkeley to earn a second Ph.D., this time in molecular and cell biology. He is now a senior fellow at Discovery Institute's Center for the Renewal of Science and Culture (www.discovery.org/ crsc) in Seattle, where he lives with his wife, two children, and mother. He still hopes to become a science teacher. Icons ofEvolution Science or Myth? Why Much oJWhat We TeachAbout Evolution Is Wrong JONATHAN WELLS ILLUSTRATED BY JODY F. SJOGREN IIIIDIDIREGNERY 11MPUBLISHING, INC. An EaglePublishing Company • Washington, IX Copyright © 2000 by Jonathan Wells All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or trans mitted in any form or by any means electronic or mechanical, including pho tocopy, recording, or any information storage and retrieval system now known or to be invented, without permission in writing from the publisher, except by a reviewer who wishes to quote brief passages in connection with a review written for inclusion in a magazine, newspaper, or broadcast. -
Transition of Eocene Whales from Land to Sea: Evidence from Bone Microstructure
RESEARCH ARTICLE Transition of Eocene Whales from Land to Sea: Evidence from Bone Microstructure Alexandra Houssaye1,2*, Paul Tafforeau3, Christian de Muizon4, Philip D. Gingerich5 1 UMR 7179 CNRS/Muséum National d’Histoire Naturelle, Département Ecologie et Gestion de la Biodiversité, Paris, France, 2 Steinmann Institut für Geologie, Paläontologie und Mineralogie, Universität Bonn, Bonn, Germany, 3 European Synchrotron Radiation Facility, Grenoble, France, 4 Sorbonne Universités, CR2P—CNRS, MNHN, UPMC-Paris 6, Département Histoire de la Terre, Muséum National d’Histoire Naturelle, Paris, France, 5 Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences and Museum of Paleontology, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan, United States of America a11111 * [email protected] Abstract Cetacea are secondarily aquatic amniotes that underwent their land-to-sea transition during OPEN ACCESS the Eocene. Primitive forms, called archaeocetes, include five families with distinct degrees Citation: Houssaye A, Tafforeau P, de Muizon C, of adaptation to an aquatic life, swimming mode and abilities that remain difficult to estimate. Gingerich PD (2015) Transition of Eocene Whales The lifestyle of early cetaceans is investigated by analysis of microanatomical features in from Land to Sea: Evidence from Bone postcranial elements of archaeocetes. We document the internal structure of long bones, Microstructure. PLoS ONE 10(2): e0118409. ribs and vertebrae in fifteen specimens belonging to the three more derived archaeocete doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0118409 families — Remingtonocetidae, Protocetidae, and Basilosauridae — using microtomogra- Academic Editor: Brian Lee Beatty, New York phy and virtual thin-sectioning. This enables us to discuss the osseous specializations ob- Institute of Technology College of Osteopathic Medicine, UNITED STATES served in these taxa and to comment on their possible swimming behavior. -
Locomotor Evolution in the Earliest Cetaceans: Functional Model, Modem Analogues, and Paleontological Evidence
Paleobiology, 23(4), 1997, pp. 482-490 Locomotor evolution in the earliest cetaceans: functional model, modem analogues, and paleontological evidence J. G. M. Thewissen and E E. Fish Abstract.-We discuss a model for the origin of cetacean swimming that is based on hydrodynamic and kinematic data of modem mammalian swimmers. The model suggests that modem otters (Mustelidae: Lutrinae) display several of the locomotor modes that early cetaceans used at different stages in the transition from land to water. We use mustelids and other amphibious mammals to analyze the morphology of the Eocene cetacean Ambulocetus natans, and we conclude that Ambu- locetus may have locomoted by a combination of pelvic paddling and dorsoventral undulations of the tail, and that its locomotor mode in water resembled that of the modem otter Lutra most closely. We also suggest that cetacean locomotion may have resembled that of the freshwater otter Pteronuru at a stage beyond Ambulocetus. 1. G. M. Thewissen. Department qf Anatomy, Northeastern Ohio Universities College of Medicine. Roots- town, Ohio 44242 E E. Fish Department of Biology, West Chester Unrwrsrty. West Chester, Pmnsvlmnia 19380 Accepted. 7 July 1997 Introduction that wen the earliest whales had adopted modem ways of swimming. In spite of noting The locomotor morphology of terrestrial differences in overall morphology and muscle mammals is very different from that of aquatic development, Kellogg (1936) proposed that mammals. The musculoskeletal system of swimming mammals displays conspicuous late Eocene Basilosaurus had a tail fluke and specializations that can be considered as ad- implied that it swam by dorsoventral oscilla- aptations for life in the water. -
WHALE HUNT: SEARCHING for WHALE FOSSILS: a SHORTER NARRATIVE More Suitable for Teacher-Directed “Whale Hunt”
WHALE HUNT: SEARCHING FOR WHALE FOSSILS: a SHORTER NARRATIVE More Suitable for Teacher-Directed “Whale Hunt” 1. We have NO fossils of modern whales earlier than about 25 million years ago (mya). However, for many years, we have been finding a number of fossils of various primitive whales (archaeocetes) between 25 and 45 million years old, and somewhat different from modern whales, e.g. with very distinctive teeth An example of these early whales would be Dorudon. Place the fossil picture strip of Dorudon at about 36 mya on your timeline (actual range about 39-36 mya); (“mya”= millions of years ago). 2. As more fossils have been discovered from the early Eocene (55 to 34 mya), we searched for a land mammal from which whales most likely evolved. The group of animals that had features like those distinctive teeth that are also found in the earliest primitive whales, was called the Mesonychids. A typical example of these animals was Pachyaena. Mesonychids also had hooves, suggesting that whales may be related to other animals with hooves, like cows, horses, deer and pigs. Place the Pachyaena strip at about the 55 mya level on your timeline. Mesonychids lived from 58-34 mya. 3. In 1983, all we had were these primitive whales and mesonychids, with a big gap in between. This year, paleontologist Philip Gingerich was searching in Eocene deposits in Pakistan, and found the skull of an amazing fossil. It had teeth like the Dorudon whale, with whale-like ear bones and other features, but it was much older (50 mya), and there were indications that it had four legs. -
PRISCUM the Newsletter of the Paleontological Society Volume 13, Number 2, Fall 2004
PRISCUM The Newsletter of the Paleontological Society Volume 13, Number 2, Fall 2004 Paleontological PRESIDENT’S Society Officers COLUMN: Inside... President Treasurer’s Report 2 William I. Ausich WE NEED YOU! GSA Information 2 President-Elect by William I. Ausich Reviews of PS- David Bottjer Sponsored Sessions 3 Past-President Why are you a member of The Paleontology Portal 5 Patricia H. Kelley The Paleontological Society? In PS Lecture Program 6 Secretary the not too distance past, the Books for Review 9 Roger D. K. Thomas only way to receive a copy of the Journal of Book Reviews 9 Treasurer Paleontology and Paleobiology was to pay your dues Conference Announce- and belong to the Society. I suppose one could Mark E. Patzkowsky have borrowed a copy from a friend or wander over ments 14 JP Managing Editors to the library. However, this was probably done Ann (Nancy) F. Budd with a heavy burden of guilt. Now, as we move Christopher A. Brochu into the digital age of scientific journal publishing, Jonathan Adrain one can have copies of the Journal of Paleontology and Paleobiology transmitted right to your Paleobiology Editors computer. It actually may arrive faster than the Tomasz Baumiller U.S. mail, you do not have to pay anything, and Robyn Burnham you do not even have to walk over to the library. Philip Gingerich No need for shelf space, no hassle, no dues, no Program Coordinator guilt – isn’t the Web great? The Web is great, but the Society needs dues-paying members in order Mark A. Wilson to continue to publish in paper, digitally, or both. -
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. -
How Many Species of Mammals Are There?
Journal of Mammalogy, 99(1):1–14, 2018 DOI:10.1093/jmammal/gyx147 INVITED PAPER How many species of mammals are there? CONNOR J. BURGIN,1 JOCELYN P. COLELLA,1 PHILIP L. KAHN, AND NATHAN S. UPHAM* Department of Biological Sciences, Boise State University, 1910 University Drive, Boise, ID 83725, USA (CJB) Department of Biology and Museum of Southwestern Biology, University of New Mexico, MSC03-2020, Albuquerque, NM 87131, USA (JPC) Museum of Vertebrate Zoology, University of California, Berkeley, CA 94720, USA (PLK) Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Yale University, New Haven, CT 06511, USA (NSU) Integrative Research Center, Field Museum of Natural History, Chicago, IL 60605, USA (NSU) 1Co-first authors. * Correspondent: [email protected] Accurate taxonomy is central to the study of biological diversity, as it provides the needed evolutionary framework for taxon sampling and interpreting results. While the number of recognized species in the class Mammalia has increased through time, tabulation of those increases has relied on the sporadic release of revisionary compendia like the Mammal Species of the World (MSW) series. Here, we present the Mammal Diversity Database (MDD), a digital, publically accessible, and updateable list of all mammalian species, now available online: https://mammaldiversity.org. The MDD will continue to be updated as manuscripts describing new species and higher taxonomic changes are released. Starting from the baseline of the 3rd edition of MSW (MSW3), we performed a review of taxonomic changes published since 2004 and digitally linked species names to their original descriptions and subsequent revisionary articles in an interactive, hierarchical database. We found 6,495 species of currently recognized mammals (96 recently extinct, 6,399 extant), compared to 5,416 in MSW3 (75 extinct, 5,341 extant)—an increase of 1,079 species in about 13 years, including 11 species newly described as having gone extinct in the last 500 years. -
Evolution of Mammals Classifying Mammals
Outline 20: Evolution of Mammals Classifying Mammals • Paleontologists recognize at least 5 major groups of mammals. Only 3 are still living: –Monotremes: lay eggs –Marsupials: poorly developed at birth –Eutherians or Placentals: well developed at birth 5 Major Groups: 3 Living Defining Mammals • Warm blooded • Fur • Milk glands • Can lay eggs or have some form of live birth. Recognizing Fossil Mammals • Our definition of mammals doesn’t work with fossil bones. • How do we recognize the first mammals? –Reptiles have 3 bones in lower jaw. –Mammals have 1 bone in lower jaw –Mammal teeth are specialized. Dinosaurs have 3 bones in lower jaw 2 3 1 Mammals have 1 bone in lower jaw Hadrocodium, a lower Jurassic mammal with a “large” brain (6 mm brain case in an 8 mm skull) Eomaia, oldest placental mammal, 125 my old, Lower Cretaceous, China Eomaia, oldest placental mammal, 125 my old, Lower Cretaceous, China Eomaia Mammal fossil from the Cretaceous of Mongolia Jaw bones • Reptiles have 3 bones in their jaw: dentary, articular, and quadrate. • Articular and quadrate bones of reptile jaw became the hammer and anvil bones of the mammalian inner ear. • Marsupials are born with a reptilian jaw, which quickly changes before they eat solid food. = articular of = quadrate of Human Ear Bones, or lower reptile upper reptile Auditory Ossicles jaw jaw Cochlea Mammal Teeth • Teeth make excellent fossils. • Reptile ancestors had simple, cone- shaped teeth they regularly replaced. • Mammal teeth are specialized into incisors, canines, pre-molars and molars. • Mammals have only two sets of teeth during their lifetime. A Nile crocodile.