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Pelvis, vertebrae, and hind limb of Rodhocetus. Rodhocetus was a small whale measuring 2–3 m (6.6–9.8 ft) long. [4] Throughout the 1990s, a close relationship between cetaceans and mesonychians, an extinct group of cursorial, wolf-like ungulates, was generally accepted based on morphological analyses. In the late 1990s, however, cladistic ...
Baleen whales can have streamlined or large bodies, depending on the feeding behavior, and two limbs that are modified into flippers. The fin whale is the fastest baleen whale, recorded swimming at 10 m/s (36 km/h; 22 mph). Baleen whales use their baleen plates to filter out food from the water by either lunge-feeding or skim-feeding
Whales evolved in South Asia, and it was previously thought that the fluke helped early whales spread across Earth from there, so Georgiacetus' presence in America and its legs and tail contradicts this hypothesis. [8] Uhen 2008 also established the clade Pelagiceti [9] to show the relationship between Georgiacetus, the basilosaurids and modern ...
[3] [4] Parts recovered include the jaw, front and hind legs, bits of spine, and tail. Olivier Lambert, a scientist at the Royal Belgian Institute of Natural Sciences and lead author of the study, noted that Peregocetus "fills in a crucial [knowledge] gap" about the evolution of whales and their spread. [3]
The two common whales are the large Basilosaurus, and the smaller (3- to 5-metre) Dorudon. [10] At least two other species are known from rarer remains. The whales possess small hind limbs, that are not seen in modern whales, and a powerful skull with teeth similar to those of carnivorous land mammals. [9]
Although toothed whales do not possess fully developed hind limbs, some, such as the sperm whale, possess discrete rudimentary appendages, which may contain feet and digits. [ citation needed ] Toothed whales are fast swimmers in comparison to seals, which typically cruise at 5–15 knots, or 9–28 km/h (5.6–17.4 mph); the sperm whale, in ...
The pygmy right whale shares several characteristics with the right whales, with the exception of having a dorsal fin. Also, pygmy right whales' heads are no more than one quarter the size of their bodies, whereas the right whales' heads are about one-third the size of their bodies. [11] The pygmy right whale is the only extant member of its ...
Ambulocetus (Latin ambulare "to walk" + cetus "whale") is a genus of early amphibious cetacean [a] from the Kuldana Formation in Pakistan, roughly 48 or 47 million years ago during the Early Eocene . It contains one species , Ambulocetus natans (Latin natans "swimming"), known solely from a near-complete skeleton.