One of the first cetaceans, Pakicetus, was a goat-sized creature that lived along the banks of lakes and rivers in ...

The evolution of modern cetaceans (including whales, dolphins, and porpoises) from terrestrial ancestors required many drastic anatomical, physiological, and behavioral changes. The development of an ...

As evolutionary biologist Neil Shubin points out, "In one sense, evolution didn't invent anything new with whales. It was just tinkering with land mammals. It's using the old to make the new." ...

In the process he has shown that whales, once celebrated by creationists as the best evidence against evolution, may be evolution's most elegant proof. "Complete specimens like that Basilosaurus ...

For several years now, Coombs has been studying whale skull peculiarities—such as the structure’s unusual asymmetry in some species—and their implications for cetacean evolution. She first started ...

Early ancestors of the ocean's biggest animals once walked on land. Follow their extraordinary journey from shore to sea. Although whales are expert swimmers and perfectly adapted to life underwater, ...

Found on the southern coast of Peru, this amphibious creature had a tail and hooves and was the oldest preserved fossil of ...

The behaviours of whales have endeared them to us like few other species on Earth. Long-term research into the way they learn, hunt and socialise shows they may have more in common with us than ...

Understanding human evolution through the study of whale evolution Brief definition and history of mammals How did land-based mammals return to the sea? Fossils from "transitional species" trace ...

These revolutions have been observed spreading across the South Pacific, demonstrating how cultural learning drives song evolution. Scientists have struggled to understand how whales learn these ...