what evidence is there that whales evolved from land mammals?
437842
Unlike the hippo's ancestor, whale ancestors moved to the sea and evolved into swimming creatures over a period of about 8 million years. Fossils of gigantic ancient whales called Basilosaurus were first mistaken for dinasaur fossils but were later recognised as mammals.
1062694
Since mammals originally evolved on land, their spines are optimized for running, allowing for up-and-down but only little sideways motion. Therefore, marine mammals typically swim by moving their spine up and down. By contrast, fish normally swim by moving their spine sideways.
736703
Whales are perfect examples of aquatic animals which are not fishes. They actually belong to class Mammalia and fishes belong to class pisces.
673339
Yes, whales do possess tongues just like most animal species. ... All three sub species are either part of the toothed whale or baleen whale suborder based on whether they are born with teeth or baleen plates.
452428
Whales, along with dolphins and porpoises, are warm-blooded mammals and breathe air like humans do. There are some significant differences between whales and fish: ... Fish use gills to extract air from water. Whales give birth to live young.
1034375
Whales are the largest animals on Earth and they live in every ocean. The massive mammals range from the 600-pound dwarf sperm whale to the colossal blue whale, which can weigh more than 200 tons and stretch up to 100 feet long—almost as long as a professional basketball court.
1219535
Blue whales are the largest animals ever known to have lived on Earth. These magnificent marine mammals rule the oceans at up to 100 feet long and upwards of 200 tons. Their tongues alone can weigh as much as an elephant.
206604
The short answer is: Yes, dolphins are a type of whale. If this answer doesn't satisfy you, continue reading. Whales, or cetaceans, as the scientists call them, are a group of mammals which are distributed throughout the world's oceans and even in some freshwater areas.
455125
That group includes pigs, hippos, camels, cows, deer, giraffes and sheep. ... It says hippos and cud-chewing mammals like cows, sheep and deer are more closely related to whales, dolphins and porpoises than they are to other even-toed mammals like pigs and camels.
673718
Whales are mammals because they give birth to live young, they have fur (although it is very sparse on their body), they have lungs and breath air and they provide milk for their young. Answer 3: ... Dolphins and other whales are all mammals called cetaceans.
850387
The mammals of Australia have a rich fossil history, as well as a variety of extant mammalian species, dominated by the marsupials, but also including monotremes and placentals. ... The indisputable remains of Australian placental mammals started from the Miocene, when Australia moved closer to Indonesia.
998975
Edward Tyson is regarded as the founder of modern comparative anatomy. He is credited with determining that whales and dolphins are, in fact, mammals.
338605
Scientists have used computer analysis to read evolution backward and reconstruct a large part of the genome of an 80-million-year-old mammal. This tiny shrewlike creature was the common ancestor of humans and other living mammals as diverse as horses, bats, tigers and whales.
9180
According to molecular evidence, the closest living relatives of whales are, quite surprisingly, the artiodactyls, a group of hoofed mammals that includes deer, cows, sheep, pigs, giraffes, camels and hippos.
947031
Are whales fish? Whales, along with dolphins and porpoises, are warm-blooded mammals and breathe air like humans do.
1287166
The closest living relatives of sirenians are elephants. Manatees evolved from the same land animals as elephants over 50 million years ago and the fossil record shows a much more diverse group of sirenians than we have today, with dugongs and manatees living together throughout their range.
1033672
They include animals like Polar bears, Elephants, Leopard seals, Killer whales, adult Whales such as Blue whales, Humpbacks etc, Crocodiles, Lions, Tigers, Great white sharks etc, the list is indefinate. Why didn't most prey evolve to become predators themselves?