The Evolution of Cetaceans: Evolutionary Phylogeny, Fossil Records and Evolutionary Novelties

Jayson Garcia Abigail Larios Jacob Labios

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Cetaceans

From Latin cetus = a large sea animal and Greek ketos = sea monster

I Uncharacteristic of the Class Mammalia due to

modifications of the basic mammalian structure adaptation to transition from terrestrial to aquatic Main habitat Isolated from Groups of primitive eutherian ancestors leads to rapid evolutionary changes Cetaceans

Include whales, dolphins and porpoises in about 87 species, 14 families and 2 sub-orders
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CLASSIFICATION Kingdom Animalia Class Mammalia Order Cetacea Suborder Odontoceti Suborder Mysticeti

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Suborder Odontoceti

toothed whales with teeth for feeding and a single blowhole for respiration asymmetrical skull include more species and are smaller than the other subgroup
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Suborder Mysticeti

baleen whales with baleen plates for filter feeding and to blowholes for respiration

symmetrical skull

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warm-blooded no hairs in the body uses blubber, a heavy fat layer underneath the skin, for insulating or warming of the body torpedo shaped body with no distinct neck streamlined body and horizontal end fin (flukes) for efficient swimming paddles for balancing their bodies

II

Unifying Characteris blowholes for exchange of gases poor sense of tics/Featursmell good sense of hearing for sensing vibrations underwater for es echolocation

highly developed brains give birth to live and well-developed young and nourish their offspring through their mammary glands

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Transition to Toothlessness

baleen plates of mysticetes evolved gradually through time

III baleen whales such as Janjucetus and early

Evolutionar whale embryos also y Changesonce bore show that their distanttooth ancestors teeth. They still grow

Mammalodon still had fully developed enamelcovered teeth

Microevolution

buds that disappear before the young whale is born through time, proteins needed to encode enamel on teeth of whales are impaired via mutation

all species of baleen whales have a different set of 4/18/12 at least three tooth genes that mutated into

Possible explanation: baleen whales lost enamel independent from each other or their common ancestor lost enamel once

Evidence: fossil records show a modification in the MMP20 gene (gene involved in processing tooth proteins such as enamelin and ameloblastin) which lead to the permanent lost of teeth of baleen whales
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III

gradual evolution from fully terrestrial to fully marine lifestyle with corresponding adaptations (elongated bodies, webbed feet, blowholes, etc.) at various key intervals along the way

Evolutionar y Changes order Cetacea are believed to have evolved

Macroevolutionsmaller terrestrial hoofed mammals from and Evolutionary like cows, camels and sheep some 45 Novelties

million years

they are a good example of adaptive radiation in mammals 4/18/12

Their body became streamlined; forelimbs modified into flippers; limbs lost; tail broadened horizontally all for efficient motility in water blubbers, in place of hair, for buoyancy and insulation nostrils shifted to the top of the head to create blowholes for effective respiration when they reach the surface of the water their sensory organs have been modified to adapt to the differences in the life on land and the life on sea hearing is highly developed sensory and reproductive organs have been 4/18/12 internalized to reduce drag while swimming

Changes in their reproductive and parental behaviors have also taken place, enabling whales to provide optimum care for their young in the cold, large ocean Since renal urea transporters are highly conserved among mammals inhabiting terrestrial and pelagic environments, ureabased concentrating mechanism, presumably evolved to meet the demands of an arid terrestrial environment

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whales share brain cells with humans suggesting that certain cetaceans and hominids may have evolved side by side there is substantial variability between the cell structures of the cortex in humpback whales compared to toothed whales like dolphins spindle cells in the humpback cortex and in other areas of the whale brain is comparable to that of the spindle cells of hominids.
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fossil cetaceans are classified based on skeletons (other fossil parts have not yet produced biomolecules useful in molecular taxonomy)

IV

Fossil Records rarely, other bones (vertebrae, teeth and,

limb elements) have been used at times

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Modes of Fossil Preservation

fossil cetaceans occur in sedimentary rocks

from strata including sandstone, mudstone, limestone, greensand, and phosphorite, most of which are marine rocks now exposed on land

rare fossils have been recovered from the sea floor

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Center of Fossil Distribution

oldest known cetaceans from coastal and fluvial deposits in the Indo-Pakistan region of South Asia, dating to approximately 55 Ma, by Philip Gingerich

Hans Thewissen found Ambolectus later in 1995

Archaeoceti Early cetacean fossils with four limbs, heterodont dentitions, and shared basicranial, facial, vertebral, and forelimb characters with modern cetaceans from Pakistan, India, Egypt and USA later separated into protocetids and basilosaurids and then dispersed Jordan, Egypt, 4/18/12 and the southeastern United States

Rhodhocetus

Ambolectus

Pakicetus

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Range in Geologic Time Scale

Eocene, Oligocene, Miocene, Pliocene, and Pleistocene

the early Oligocene reduction in archaeotes and first appearances of echolating and baleen-bearing cetaceans (odontocetes and mysticetes)

Miocene diversification of cetaceans

middle Miocene most representatives of extant families appear

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increasing volume of CO2 emissions through the years Global Warming

increase in temp of the waters

The lower capacity of holding O2 dead zones Cetacean Future decrease in the population of phytoplankton

alterations in the migration pattern of some species of whales

main diet of baleen whales

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water pollution

11 of 9 genera of mysticetes are endangered odontocetes are being hunted for tourism (e.g. amusement parks)

insufficient conservation efforts (e.g. IWC) due to unstoppable problem in whaling

EXTINCTION After a million years !

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THANK YOU
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