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The name Whippomorpha is a combination of English (wh[ale] + hippo[potamus]) and Greek (μορφή, morphē = form). [2]Some attempts have been made to rename the suborder Cetancodonta, due to the misleading utilization of the suffix -morpha for a crown group, [6] as well as the risk of confusion with the clade Hippomorpha (which consists of equid perissodactyls); [7] however Whippomorpha ...
This led to some theories that the last common ancestors of hippos and whales was a semiaquatic mammal, but in a 2015 genomic study that compared the genes responsible in aquatic adaptations within Whippomorpha found it to be the result of convergent evolution, as opposed to shared ancestry. This resolves the issue of how hippos and whales ...
Since the fossil record suggests that the morphologically distinct hippo lineage dates back only about 15 million years, Cetacea and hippos apparently diverged from a common ancestor that was morphologically distinct from either. [79] [80] [81] The most striking common feature is the talus, a bone in the upper ankle.
The earliest known ancestor of arctic whales is Denebola brachycephala from the late Miocene around 9–10 million years ago. [55] A single fossil from Baja California indicates the family once inhabited warmer waters. [27] [56] [57] Acrophyseter skull. Ancient sperm whales differ from modern sperm whales in tooth count and the shape of the ...
Florida has a very rich fossil record spanning from the Eocene to recent times. Florida fossils are often very well preserved. [1] The oldest known fossils in Florida date back to the Eocene. At this time Florida was covered in a sea home to a variety of marine invertebrates and the primitive whales, such as Basilosaurus.
Basilosaurus (meaning "king lizard") is a genus of large, predatory, prehistoric archaeocete whale from the late Eocene, approximately 41.3 to 33.9 million years ago (mya). First described in 1834, it was the first archaeocete and prehistoric whale known to science. [2] Fossils attributed to the type species B. cetoides were discovered in the ...
The nature of the sediments in which they are fossilized implies they were amphibious, which supports the view, based on anatomical evidence, that they were ancestors of the hippopotamuses. [8] In many respects, especially the anatomy of the lower jaw, Anthracotherium , as with other members of the family, is allied to the hippopotamus, of ...
The most popular theory of the origins of Hippopotamidae suggests that hippos and whales shared a common ancestor that branched off from other artiodactyls around 60 million years ago (mya). [13] [14] This hypothesized ancestral group likely split into two branches around 54 mya. [15]