Collit, Johanna Christine Q.

Bio 140 V

The Walking Whale

A bone of an animal was found at the Tethys seabed in Pakistan by Hans

Thewissen in 1994. It is something primitive, transitional modern whale from a land
mammal. It is the Pakicetus, the ancient ancestor of the modern whale. It has the size,
shape and weight of a modern wolf and it paddles like a dog when swimming. It hunts in
shallow waters.
Fifty million years ago, the land masses drifted apart and created new ocean
currents. The planet became warmer and it produced more marine life. It was also fifty
million years ago that the Pakicetus disappeared.
49 million years ago, the Pakicetus evolved. It had wide legs like flippers. It is the
Ambulocetus, the walking and swimming whale. It drank sea water but lived primarily on
land. It had a a large head and body and relatively small hind legs. 49 million years ago,
the Ambulocetus vanished from the fossil records.
46 million years ago, the seas became shallower. It was also then that the
Rodhocetus appeared. It had a shorter, more powerful neck. Its rear legs widened, feet
became webbed and its tail had mucles. It lived primarily in the sea. It had its predators:
sharks. The Rodhocetus had ears to escape the predators. Its small inner ears allowed it
to turn and twist in high speed without getting disoriented and it could out-maneuver the
predators.
In Egypt, giant whale fossils were found. It was bigger than the Rodhocetus and it
had short fin shaped forelimbs. It was the Basilosaurus and it hunted in shallow waters.
35 million years ago, the oceans continued to cool and there was a drop in global
sea waters. 30 million years ago, in the mid Atlantic seas, the ancient warm-blooded
whale which was five meters long was predated by sharks. It went to colder seas and it
developed a sonar to hunt which gave rise to the modern whale.