Whales are no Fluke

TL;DRAbstract

Of all the groups of tetrapod vertebrates, none has done better at recolonizing the sea than mammals. And among the many mammals that make a living in water, none has done better than cetaceans, or whales. In this group are fully aquatic forms such as dolphins, porpoises, orcas, sperm whales, minke whales, blue whales, and humpbacks. The nature of their transition from terrestrial, to semiaquatic, to fully marine animals is very well documented in the fossil record. In the following pages, I wish to add only slightly to previous accounts of their origins from terrestrial, even-toed ungulates (including such animals as camels, pigs, deer, and hippos) by discussing the relevance to this origin of an extinct group of mammals called mesonychids. I will also discuss another cetacean evolutionary transition that has received somewhat less public attention than whale origins: the paleontological, genetic, and developmental links between toothed whales, such as dolphins and orcas, and baleen w

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