Whoa, I had no idea that they were water, to land, and then back to water.
Fossil hunters have discovered the remains of the earliest ancestor of the modern whale: a small deer-like animal that waded in lagoons and munched on vegetation.
The latest discovery, named Indohyus, is the first whale ancestor known to have lived on land.
The first whales, Pakicetidae, emerged around 50m years ago and resembled land mammals rather than the giant marine creatures of today. These evolved into large, powerful coastal whales, or Ambulocetidae, that had big feet and strong tails. Later, whales lost their hind limbs and hair and developed powerful tail fins and flippers.
14 Comments
GraniteM@lemmy.world · 62 pts · 352d
But also:
pelespirit@sh.itjust.works · 10 pts · 352d
What's the animal in the origin pic and could it really run on the ocean floor?
GraniteM@lemmy.world · 11 pts · 352d
https://www.theguardian.com/science/2007/dec/20/sciencenews.evolution
pelespirit@sh.itjust.works · 19 pts · 352d
Whoa, I had no idea that they were water, to land, and then back to water.
DeathsEmbrace@lemmy.world · 6 pts · 352d
That last part is convergent evolution for water movement.
rockstarmode@lemmy.world · 2 pts · 351d
Some current whale species still have internal bones which are vestigial legs.
PalmTreeIsBestTree@lemmy.world · 9 pts · 352d
Whales are just water rats
killingspark@feddit.org · 9 pts · 352d
The whales eating plankton are more like water roombas
Gradually_Adjusting@lemmy.world · 19 pts · 352d
Nothing is can ever beat reality for pure insanity. Fiction is more entertaining, but only because it is obliged to make sense to us.
orvorn@slrpnk.net · 11 pts · 352d
Chickens did not evolve naturally, we created them through selective breeding. The wild fowl they come from are much more nimble and beautiful.
SolarMonkey@slrpnk.net · 4 pts · 351d
Fluffy pants are beautiful thank you.
ChronophobianQ@piefed.social · 6 pts · 351d
Congratulations! Your Wolf evolved into a Pug!
Kolanaki@pawb.social · 3 pts · 351d
I wanna evolve like Digimon so I can be in a band and then turn into a spaceship.
stupidcasey@lemmy.world · 1 pts · 352d
Those trainers must be millions of years old humans still have fully transitioned from fish to robot and we're at least like idk 12 yo.