Transitional fossil: Difference between revisions

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The [[cetacea]]ns (whales, dolphins and porpoises) are [[marine mammal]] descendants of land [[mammal]]s. The [[Pakicetidae|pakicetid]]s are an [[Extinction|extinct]] [[family (biology)|family]] of hoofed mammals that are the earliest whales, whose closest sister group is ''[[Indohyus]]'' from the family [[Raoellidae]].<ref name=science_news_2>{{cite news |author=Northeastern Ohio Universities Colleges of Medicine and Pharmacy |author-link=Northeast Ohio Medical University |date=21 December 2007 |title=Whales Descended From Tiny Deer-like Ancestors |url=https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2007/12/071220220241.htm |work=[[Science Daily]] |___location=Rockville, MD |publisher=ScienceDaily, LLC |access-date=2015-05-15}}</ref><ref>{{harvnb|Gingerich|Russell|1981}}</ref> They lived in the Early [[Eocene]], around 53&nbsp;million years ago. Their fossils were first discovered in North Pakistan in 1979, at a river not far from the shores of the former [[Tethys Sea]].<ref>{{harvnb|Castro|Huber|2003}}</ref>{{page needed|date=March 2012}} Pakicetids could hear under water, using enhanced bone conduction, rather than depending on [[tympanic membrane]]s like most land mammals. This arrangement does not give directional hearing under water.<ref name=hearing>{{cite journal |last1=Nummela |first1=Sirpa |last2=Thewissen |first2=J. G. M. |last3=Bajpai |first3=Sunil |last4=Hussain |first4=S. Taseer |last5=Kumar |first5=Kishor |date=12 August 2004 |title=Eocene evolution of whale hearing |journal=Nature |volume=430 |issue=7001 |pages=776–778 |bibcode=2004Natur.430..776N |doi=10.1038/nature02720 |issn=0028-0836 |pmid=15306808 |s2cid=4372872 |display-authors=3 }}</ref>

''[[Ambulocetus natans]]'', which lived about 49&nbsp;million years ago, was discovered in Pakistan in 1994. It was probably amphibious, and looked like a [[crocodile]].<ref name="skeleton">{{cite journal |last1=Thewissen |first1=J. G. M. |last2=Williams |first2=Ellen M. |last3=Roe |first3=Lois J. |last4=Hussain |first4=S. Taseer |date=20 September 2001 |title=Skeletons of terrestrial cetaceans and the relationship of whales to artiodactyls |journal=Nature |volume=413 |issue=6853 |pages=277–281 |doi=10.1038/35095005 |issn=0028-0836 |pmid=11565023 |display-authors=3 |bibcode=2001Natur.413..277T |s2cid=4416684 }}</ref> In the Eocene, [[Ambulocetidae|ambulocetid]]s inhabited the bays and estuaries of the Tethys Ocean in northern Pakistan.<ref name=radiations>{{cite journal |last1=Thewissen |first1=J. G. M. |last2=Williams |first2=Ellen M. |date=November 2002 |title=The Early Radiations of Cetacea (Mammalia): Evolutionary Pattern and Developmental Correlations |journal=[[Annual Review of Ecology, Evolution, and Systematics|Annual Review of Ecology and Systematics]] |volume=33 |pages=73–90 |doi=10.1146/annurev.ecolsys.33.020602.095426 |issn=1545-2069 }}</ref> The fossils of ambulocetids are always found in near-shore shallow marine deposits associated with abundant marine plant fossils and [[Littoral zone|littoral]] [[Mollusca|mollusc]]s.<ref name=radiations/> Although they are found only in marine deposits, their oxygen isotope values indicate that they consumed water with a range of degrees of salinity, some specimens showing no evidence of sea water consumption and others none of fresh water consumption at the time when their teeth were fossilized. It is clear that ambulocetids tolerated a wide range of salt concentrations.<ref name="poster">{{cite journal |last1=Thewissen |first1=J. G. M. |last2=Bajpai |first2=Sunil |date=December 2001 |title=Whale Origins as a Poster Child for Macroevolution |journal=[[BioScience]] |volume=51 |issue=12 |pages=1037–1049 |doi=10.1641/0006-3568(2001)051[1037:WOAAPC]2.0.CO;2 |issn=0006-3568 |doi-access=free }}</ref> Their diet probably included land animals that approached water for drinking, or freshwater aquatic organisms that lived in the river.<ref name=radiations/> Hence, ambulocetids represent the transition phase of cetacean ancestors between freshwater and marine habitat.

===''Tiktaalik''===