Whale Ancestors

1994/05/01 Elhuyar Zientzia Iturria: Elhuyar aldizkaria

• Paleontologia
• Arkeologia

J.G.M. in the mountains of Pakistan A team led by American scientist Thewissen studied a sediment deposit last year. They have found fossils 52 million years ago. The most interesting are those of Ambulocetus natans i, considered the ancestor of current cetaceans.

Analyzing the morphology of the vertebrae, ribs and limbs, the long form of the end and the teething, it can be said without a doubt that it is cetacean. However, it is an ancient cetacean. On the one hand, it has no air outlet and on the other, it has two long legs fully developed behind.

This new fossil species occupies the gap between the prisoners ancestors of cetaceans and the archeozetos (oldest branch of whales). Ambulocetus natans was a three-meter-long mammal weighing about 300 kilos. It would work like a seal on land, pushing with the hind legs, but would prefer to swim in the feed water. To reproduce it should return to the earth. Like the basket and seals, for swimming had waved the spine and would have harshly used the hind legs.