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Becoming Whales

Explore the fascinating journey of whales, from ancient mammals with legs and hooves to the magnificent creatures of the ocean. Discover the evolutionary history through whale fossils and DNA analysis, linking them to their closest land-dwelling cousin, the hippo.

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Becoming Whales

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  1. Becoming Whales

  2. What type of creature is a whale? Video

  3. Diversity of Whales Today Mysticetes (baleen whales):

  4. Diversity of Whales Today Odontocetes (toothed whales):

  5. But Where Did They Come From? ONE OF DARWIN’S IDEAS… … I can see no difficulty in a race of bears being rendered, by natural selection, more and more aquatic in their structure and habits, with larger and larger mouths, till a creature was produced as monstrous as a whale. Charles Darwin, The Origin of Species, 1859 (first edition), Chapter 6: Difficulties on Theory

  6. Let’s go on a whale hunt!

  7. Whale Fossils Diagrams… • Work in pairs • On the whiteboard create an Eocene Timeline (55 mya to 34 mya) • Remove whale strips from envelope • Read descriptions and place whale strip on timeline

  8. Eocene Epoch Timeline

  9. Early Whale Teeth in Dorudon ~ 36 mya 1936

  10. Early Whale Teeth…in a 4-legged mammal? a Mesonychid - called Pachyaena ~ 55 mya … with tiny hooves!

  11. Early Whale Teeth WITH LEGS ! …and hooves, too! Pakicetus - an early whale ~50 mya 1983 - Gingerich - Pakistan

  12. Early whale teeth in… Basilosaurus ~37mya and LEGS, too… 1990 Gingerich - Egypt

  13. Early Whale Teeth Rodhocetus - an early whale And tiny hooves, too ! ~46 mya early 1994 - Gingerich - Pakistan

  14. On your white board draw a prediction for the animal you would expect to find between 50 mya and 46 mya.

  15. Early Whale Teeth… in Pakistan With tiny hooves, too ! Ambulocetus - the “walking whale” ~48 mya late 1994 Thewissen

  16. Ambulocetus Carl Buell

  17. What is the closest land dwelling relative of whales?

  18. Whale Phylogeny, 1994Hans Thewissen

  19. PerissodactylsOdd-Toed Ungulates Rhinos & Tapirs Horses & Zebras

  20. ArtiodactylsEven-Toed Ungulates

  21. But WHICH Hooved animals? Is there a way to demonstrate relatedness between hoofed animals and whales?

  22. DNA AnalysisCompare segments of beta-casein gene

  23. DNA Differences

  24. Whale’s Closest Land Dwelling Cousin: Hippos

  25. FAREWHALE!

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