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Missing Link Between Whales and Landlubber Ancestor
By sciencebase, Section News Posted on Thu Dec 20, 2007 at 05:34:39 AM PST
Fossils from what appears to be the missing link between whales and their land-based mammal ancestors show they probably took to the water to escape predators rather than because they liked fish.

The fossils help to show how cetaceans, including whales, dolphins and porpoises, might have evolved from artiodactyls -- even-toed hoofed mammals -- some 50 million years ago. The teeth hint that the wading creature still preferred terrestrial plants over fish, indicating that it probably took to water to get away from predators rather than in search of food. More on this in Nature and a fascinating editorial from Carl Zimmer on The Loom

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· Nature · Carl Zimmer on The Loom · More on Biology · Also by sciencebase