The Evolution of Whales Essay

The ancestors of the whales transitioned from being land bearing animals to becoming animals that live in the ocean. While the original ancestor of whales lived on land as it evolved it was able to start to enter the water until it struggled more to get on land than to get in water until the whale’s ancestors began to live exclusively underwater.

The evolutionary path of a whale is a fascinating process of a terrestrial mammal that evolves into a marine mammal. This evolutionary path started with one of the earliest ancestors called “Pakicetus”. A Pakicetus was discovered to be a land animal with four legs that had teeth as carnivores. It skull structure was long, but this organism didn’t look like any marine animal. The scientist then discovered that on the skull’s ear region it was surrounded by a bony wall. This feature on an organism only was distinct from one type of species, scientist discovered that this animal “Pakicetus” was an ancestor of a whale. By comparing the early whales Pakicetus to the next generation of ancestors Ambulocetus, the Ambulocetus whale looks more like

Herman Melville, in his epic novel Moby-Dick, utilizes the symbolism of the color of the Great White Whale to demonstrate his theme of duality. However, Captain Ahab tragically had a single mind set towards Moby Dick, as he believed that the whale was the symbol of the world's evil and had to be destroyed. On the other hand, Ishmael sees that the color white can mean many various and opposing things. It would be dangerous to settle upon any one single meaning. In the chapter, The Whiteness of the Whale, Melville explains the importance of duality of meaning in the world, as opposed to man's (and Ahab's) desire to see only one meaning in any one thing. Melville utilizes the symbol of the

Megan Bergman’s story “Yesterdays Whales” discusses a woman’s choice to have an abortion, which is a highly debated topic in today’s society. In 2015, 50% of the people in the US were said to be pro-life and 44% of people said to be pro-choice. Becoming pro-life means that you would believe a pregnant women must have the baby and that it would be wrong to abort it. Deciding to be pro-choice is not viewing someone negatively if they want to abort it. There are so many different opinions on the matter, which have changed throughout the years. Of course everyone has different opinions about it but whatever their decision is, they should be confident about it. People really should make decisions for themselves rather than letting others choose their fate. Just one decision could change your whole life in just one second. Although there is good and bad in choosing pro-life there can also be both in choosing pro-choice. Although there is controversy, Bergman does an excellent job portraying throughout her story that women should have a choice for their own bodies.

The earliest whales were land animals with long skulls and carnivorous teeth. Analysis of whale skulls showed major morphological changes, including changes to the skull size, shape, teeth, and nostrils. Fossil evidence shows that the trait of interest, the nostrils, can be found on fossils of the earliest whales, dating back to about 50 million years ago. Evolution occurred multiple times since then, each time resulting in the nostrils migrating further back on the skull. Eventually, the pair of nostrils positioned itself right on top of the head. These nostrils are the blowholes we see positioned on top of modern whales today. In addition, another momentous change in the nostrils occur when order Cetacea splits into Mysticetes and Odontocetes. Suborder Mysticetes

The fossil allows us to reconstruct relationships between prehistoric creatures and those found today. It was discovered that the fish had resided in a shallow stream but obtained arm and leg bones similar to an animal as well. This allowed the fish to push-ups. By explaining experiments by various genetic researchers, there was a gene discovered called Sonic hedgehog. This gene is responsible for the shaping of hands, fins, or paws. Sonic hedgehog’s normal function can be disrupted by the recombination of its digits. This is the gene that explains that there is no emergence of a new DNA, but, rather, the gene was recombined in a new way. Most of the text elaborates on the close relations between invertebrates and unicellular creatures as well far more complex living

minor features provide critical evidence to link animals that are highly specialized for their lifestyles (such as whales) with their less extreme-looking relatives.

Did you know that killer whales are the largest species of dolphin. Killer whales have a long lifespan. They eat a lot of different species of animal. The killer whale’s size can get up to 23 to 32 feet long, and can usually weigh up to 6 tons. Killer whales also have good memory and are very intelligent.

Some evolutionists claim whale ancestors were originally land mammals. Though many people refute this claim, there is much evidence. First is the Indohysus. The Indohysus was discovered to share a thickened bone that helps with hearing underwater with modern whales. The Indohysus also had denser bones, which meant it was partially aquatic. Next is the Pakicetus; the Pakicetus also had very dense bones, indicating it was semi-aquatic. The Pakicetus was similar in structure to a wolf, but the skull had eye sockets that were adapted for looking upwards, most likely at objects or animals floating above it. The Ambulocetus was found to have reduced limbs and an elongated skull and reduced limbs; it most likely spent most of its time in the water.

I picked the killer Whale, also known as Orcas for this assignment. Orcas are cultural creatures. Scientist have observed three main groups of Orcas evenly distributed throughout the ocean. The three groups have vastly different diets, languages, hunting techniques and manners of behaving around other marine life. The groups do not seem to interact much with one another. Orcas pass down specific behavior thought to each other from generation to generation. Orcas often hunt in groups and orchestrate their strategies perfectly with each group member having specific tasks.

Ocean giants that have captured the imagination of humans for centuries, whales are among the largest mammals on earth. This diverse group of animals has over 75 separate species, and are considered by scientists to be some of the most intelligent animals on the planet. While modern whales spend their entire lives in water, they are air-breathing mammals whose ancestors roamed land millions of years ago. With so many interesting facts about whales, once question can be easily overlooked: Do whales have (teeth)?

My animal is the Northern Right Whale. I have chosen this animal because they are very adorable and majestic animals and I wouldn’t think that a whale would be endangered because of how big they are. But my report is going to be about where it is from, what it eats, what is its ecosystem and what animals are in its ecosystem, and etc. Northern Right Whales originated in North Atlantic Ocean.

Two fossils that were newly discovered in Italy and Japan suggest that a southern whale was once an animal of the Northern waters more than half a million years ago.

Imagine that your four years old and suddenly the world has you know it changes your spriped away for your family and you witness you family killed.This is exactly what happened to some of the Killer Whales and dolphins keep in captivity and yes now to this day this is illge but some of the killer whale and dolphins at seaworld today like Talcum is a Killer whale at Seaworld Florida who witness and live through exactly that.He was not alone many other Killer Whale and dolphins have the same story to tell.This is unexpected for us to do as a civilized society and it outraged me that we let this happen in the first place. Clovis,Chappy,Wally,Wanda and 196 other Orcas and dolphins passed away in cavity without being able to go back to where

The average amount of time it takes for a female whale to have a baby varies depending on its species.