Origin of Cetaceans

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New Addition to Web
The Evolution of Whales
Based on National Geographic's sensational article from November 2001, by Douglas H. Chadwick, Shawn Gould and Robert Clark, The Evolution of Whales. Overview of whale origins. Includes illustrations based on fossil progressions in transitional whales and dolphins. Additional comments from early whale expert and Paleontologist, J.G.M. Thewissen, Northeastern Ohio Universities College of Medicine.


Whale Origins


"Pakicetid fossils were important in determining what whales were related to, and they were used to rebuke the idea that whales were closely related to an extinct group of hoofed mammals called mesonychians. These fossils confirmed what was already suggested by scientists studying the DNA of modern whales: that whales’ closest relatives are even-toed ungulates (artiodactyls, such as pig, hippo, camel, deer, and cows). Current research in the Thewissen lab attempts to determine how .. pakicetids locomoted in water and on land."
Source: Origin of Whales, Thewissen Lab Webpage
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Some Common Coastal NC Species

Alternate Tellin
Alternate Tellin
, Tellina Alternata (Say)

Angelwing
Angelwing
, Cyrtopleura costata (Linnaeus)

Atlantic Auger
Atlantic or Eastern Auger
, Terebra dislocata (Say)

Atlantic calico scallop
Atlantic calico scallop
, Argopecten gibbus (Linnaeus)

Common Nutmeg
Common Nutmeg
, Cancellaria reticulata (Linnaeus)

Cross Barred Venus
Cross Barred Venus
, Chione cancellata (Linnaeus)

Angelwing
Fallen Angelwing
, Atlantic Mud Piddock, Barnea truncata (Say)

Angelwing
False Angelwing
, Petricola pholadiformis (Lamarck)

Humphrey Wentletrap
Humphrey Wentletrap
, Epitonium humphreysii (Kiener)

Imperial Venus Clam
Imperial Venus
, Chione latilirata (Conrad)

Keyhole Limpet
Cayenne keyhole limpet
, Diodora cayenensis (Larmarck)

Keyhole Sand Dollar
Keyhole Sand Dollar
, Mellita quiquiesperforata (Leske, 1778)

Lettered Olive
Lettered Olive
, Oliva sayana (Ravenel)