The Evolution of Whales
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
Load more
Recommended publications
-
Wec01's SSSS Fossils Test 2019
wec01’s SSSS Fossils Test 2019 Team Name: _________________KEY________________ Team Number: ___KEY___ Team Members: ____________KEY____________, ____________KEY____________ This test consists of 18 stations with a total of 200 points. Each answer is worth one point except where specified otherwise. You are only given 2 ½ minutes with the specimens at each station, however you can work on any station’s questions at any time. Scoring Station 1: ___10___ / 10 Station 10: ___12___ / 12 Station 2: ___10___ / 10 Station 11: ____9___ / 9 Station 3: ___11___ / 11 Station 12: ___11___ / 11 Station 4: ___10___ / 10 Station 13: ___10___ / 10 Station 5: ___10___ / 10 Station 14: ___10___ / 10 Station 6: ____9___ / 9 Station 15: ___12___ / 12 Station 7: ____9___ / 9 Station 16: ____9___ / 9 Station 8: ___10___ / 10 Station 17: ___10___ / 10 Station 9: ____9___ / 9 Station 18: ___29___ / 29 Total: __200___ / 200 Team Number: _KEY_ Station 1: Dinosaurs (10 pt) 1. Identify the genus of specimen A Tyrannosaurus (1 pt) 2. Identify the genus of specimen B Stegosaurus (1 pt) 3. Identify the genus of specimen C Allosaurus (1 pt) 4. Which specimen(s) (A, B, or C) are A, C (1 pt) Saurischians? 5. Which two specimens (A, B, or C) lived at B, C (1 pt) the same time? 6. Identify the genus of specimen D Velociraptor (1 pt) 7. Identify the genus of specimen E Coelophysis (1 pt) 8. Which specimen (D or E) is commonly E (1 pt) found in Ghost Ranch, New Mexico? 9. Which specimen (A, B, C, D, or E) would D (1 pt) specimen F have been found on? 10. -
PDF of Manuscript and Figures
The triple origin of whales DAVID PETERS Independent Researcher 311 Collinsville Avenue, Collinsville, IL 62234, USA [email protected] 314-323-7776 July 13, 2018 RH: PETERS—TRIPLE ORIGIN OF WHALES Keywords: Cetacea, Mysticeti, Odontoceti, Phylogenetic analyis ABSTRACT—Workers presume the traditional whale clade, Cetacea, is monophyletic when they support a hypothesis of relationships for baleen whales (Mysticeti) rooted on stem members of the toothed whale clade (Odontoceti). Here a wider gamut phylogenetic analysis recovers Archaeoceti + Odontoceti far apart from Mysticeti and right whales apart from other mysticetes. The three whale clades had semi-aquatic ancestors with four limbs. The clade Odontoceti arises from a lineage that includes archaeocetids, pakicetids, tenrecs, elephant shrews and anagalids: all predators. The clade Mysticeti arises from a lineage that includes desmostylians, anthracobunids, cambaytheres, hippos and mesonychids: none predators. Right whales are derived from a sister to Desmostylus. Other mysticetes arise from a sister to the RBCM specimen attributed to Behemotops. Basal mysticetes include Caperea (for right whales) and Miocaperea (for all other mysticetes). Cetotheres are not related to aetiocetids. Whales and hippos are not related to artiodactyls. Rather the artiodactyl-type ankle found in basal archaeocetes is also found in the tenrec/odontocete clade. Former mesonychids, Sinonyx and Andrewsarchus, nest close to tenrecs. These are novel observations and hypotheses of mammal interrelationships based on morphology and a wide gamut taxon list that includes relevant taxa that prior studies ignored. Here some taxa are tested together for the first time, so they nest together for the first time. INTRODUCTION Marx and Fordyce (2015) reported the genesis of the baleen whale clade (Mysticeti) extended back to Zygorhiza, Physeter and other toothed whales (Archaeoceti + Odontoceti). -
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. -
Intervertebral and Epiphyseal Fusion in the Postnatal Ontogeny of Cetaceans and Terrestrial Mammals
J Mammal Evol DOI 10.1007/s10914-014-9256-7 ORIGINAL PAPER Intervertebral and Epiphyseal Fusion in the Postnatal Ontogeny of Cetaceans and Terrestrial Mammals Meghan M. Moran & Sunil Bajpai & J. Craig George & Robert Suydam & Sharon Usip & J. G. M. Thewissen # Springer Science+Business Media New York 2014 Abstract In this paper we studied three related aspects of the Introduction ontogeny of the vertebral centrum of cetaceans and terrestrial mammals in an evolutionary context. We determined patterns The vertebral column provides support for the body and of ontogenetic fusion of the vertebral epiphyses in bowhead allows for flexibility and mobility (Gegenbaur and Bell whale (Balaena mysticetus) and beluga whale 1878;Hristovaetal.2011; Bruggeman et al. 2012). To (Delphinapterus leucas), comparing those to terrestrial mam- achieve this mobility, individual vertebrae articulate with each mals and Eocene cetaceans. We found that epiphyseal fusion other through cartilaginous intervertebral joints between the is initiated in the neck and the sacral region of terrestrial centra and synovial joints between the pre- and post- mammals, while in recent aquatic mammals epiphyseal fusion zygapophyses. The mobility of each vertebral joint varies is initiated in the neck and caudal regions, suggesting loco- greatly between species as well as along the vertebral column motor pattern and environment affect fusion pattern. We also within a single species. Vertebral column mobility greatly studied bony fusion of the sacrum and evaluated criteria used impacts locomotor style, whether the animal is terrestrial or to homologize cetacean vertebrae with the fused sacrum of aquatic. In aquatic Cetacea, buoyancy counteracts gravity, and terrestrial mammals. We found that the initial ossification of the tail is the main propulsive organ (Fish 1996;Fishetal. -
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. -
Thewissen Et Al. Reply Replying To: J
NATURE | Vol 458 | 19 March 2009 BRIEF COMMUNICATIONS ARISING Hippopotamus and whale phylogeny Arising from: J. G. M. Thewissen, L. N. Cooper, M. T. Clementz, S. Bajpai & B. N. Tiwari Nature 450, 1190–1194 (2007) Thewissen etal.1 describe new fossils from India that apparentlysupport fossils, Raoellidae or the raoellid Indohyus is more closely related to a phylogeny that places Cetacea (that is, whales, dolphins, porpoises) as Cetacea than is Hippopotamidae (Fig. 1). Hippopotamidae is the the sister group to the extinct family Raoellidae, and Hippopotamidae exclusive sister group to Cetacea plus Raoellidae in the analysis that as more closely related to pigs and peccaries (that is, Suina) than to down-weights homoplastic characters, althoughin the equallyweighted cetaceans. However, our reanalysis of a modified version of the data set analysis, another topology was equally parsimonious. In that topology, they used2 differs in retaining molecular characters and demonstrates Hippopotamidae moved one node out, being the sister group to an that Hippopotamidae is the closest extant family to Cetacea and that Andrewsarchus, Raoellidae and Cetacea clade. In neither analysis is raoellids are the closest extinct group, consistent with previous phylo- Hippopotamidae closer to the pigs and peccaries than to Cetacea, the genetic studies2,3. This topology supports the view that the aquatic result obtained by Thewissen et al.1. In all our analyses, pachyostosis adaptations in hippopotamids and cetaceans are inherited from their (thickening) of limb bones and bottom walking, which occur in hippo- common ancestor4. potamids9,10, are interpreted to have evolved before the pachyostosis of To conduct our analyses, we started with the same published matrix the auditory bulla, as seen in raoellids and cetaceans1. -
Contributions from the Museum of Paleontology
CONTRIBUTIONS FROM THE MUSEUM OF PALEONTOLOGY THE UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN Vol. 25, No. 6, p. 117-124 (2 text-figs.; 1 plate) January 26,1979 CHORLAKKZA HASSANZ, A NEW MIDDLE EOCENE DICHOBUNID (MAMMALIA, ARTIODACTYLA) FROM THE KULDANA FORMATION OF KOHAT (PAKISTAN) PHILIP D. GINGERICH, DONALD E. RUSSELL, DENISE SIGOGNEAU-RUSSELL, AND J.-L. HARTENBERGER MUSEUM OF PALEONTOLOGY THE UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN ANN ARBOR CONTRIBUTIONS FROM THE MUSEUM OF PALEONTOLOGY Gerald R. Smith, Director Robert V. Kesling, Editor Diane Wurzinger, Editor for this number The series of contributions from the Museum of Paleontology is a medium for the publication of papers based chiefly upon the collection in the Museum. When the num- ber of pages issued is sufficient to make a volume, a title page and a table of contents will be sent to libraries on the mailing list, and to individuals upon request. A list of the separate papers may also be obtained. Correspondence should be directed to the Museum of Paleontology, The University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan, 48109. VOLS. 11-XXV. Parts of volumes may be obtained if available. Price lists available upon inquiry. CHORLAKKLl HASSANZ, A NEW MIDDLE EOCENE DICHOBUNID (MAMMALIA, ARTIODACTYLA) FROM THE KULDANA FORMATION OF KOHAT (PAKISTAN) Philip D. Gingerich' ,Donald E. c us sell^, Denise Sigogneau-Russell2,and J.-L. Hartenberger3 Abstract.- A new genus and species of artiodactyl, Chorlakkia hassani, is de- scribed from the middle Eocene Kuldana Formation in the Kohat District of Pakistan. This is the smallest artiodactyl described from the Paleogene of Asia, and it is one of the smallest artiodactyls yet known. -
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. -
Does Evolution Make Big Changes? 150 Years After the “Origin
150 years after the “Origin” Does Evolution Make Big Changes? I Most modern evolution skeptics acknowledge that evolution makes small changes Alan R. Rogers I They maintain that it does not make new families, classes, and phyla. I Each of these were created separately. August 30, 2016 1 / 40 2 / 40 Progressive Creationism Idea goes back at least to 1931 In 1982, Millard Erickson (a baptist theologian) proposed that It may be held that each kingdom originated is a separate creation, I God created many kinds of plant and animal, or that each phylum, or class, or order, or family, or genus, is an I then let them evolve. independent creation, which may have undergone differentiation or I Species evolve, but only in small ways. evolution since its creation. (Dewar, 1931. Difficulties of the Evolution Theory, p. 5) I Big differences reflect separate creation This idea now prominent among evolution skeptics in the USA. 3 / 40 4 / 40 And was discussed in 1866 “Science shows that whether they are vertebrates (finches), No doubt, any number of intermediate hypotheses might be invertebrates (walking sticks), or even bacteria—any observed framed, imagining separate ancestors for every genus, every order, change is minor and horizontal in nature, with no net increase in every class, and so on. But in point of fact, no one does attempt genetic information leading to large (vertical) change, or these compromises. macroevolution.” (J.J. Murphy, 19 Nov 1866. Northern Whig Frank Sherwin (2003) 5 / 40 6 / 40 How can we tell? Whales If evolution never makes big changes, then I There should be no intermediate fossils linking major taxa. -
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.