Evolution of cetaceans

This assignment will look at the fossil record of whales as an example of empirical evidence for evolution and is inspired by the article “Land-living ancestors of whales” from the “Berkeley: History of Evolutionary Thought” resource for Module 1. There are two extant groups of whales; odontocetes (toothed whales) and mysticetes (baleen whales) and both share many features with all other mammals: they generate heat and regulate their internal temperature. The females bear live young and produce

interesting radiation, biodiversity, and phylogenetic relationships among cetaceans. This topic is of major interest to me because of my fascination with the origin and evolution of life on earth. When I was younger I had an ambition to become a paleontologist and study prehistoric life, particularly dinosaurs. I am now a biochemistry and genetics major, but my interest in paleontology is still very much present. The reason I chose cetaceans rather than some other group or clade of mammal, is because

The brain of many species of Cetacean, including whales, dolphins, and porpoises, are one of the largest relative brain sizes among extant mammals, characterized by having different structure and diverse neuronal morphology, which exhibit isometric scaling of cerebral matter with increasing brain size; this is a fact that violates the evolutionarily conserved cerebral scaling law. The Delphinoid brain size evolution may be driven by the adaptation to an obligatory aquatic existence that supports

Evolution picks the fittest. All the animals are the results of evolution both in genetic and physical aspects. Squirrels, birds, butterflies, or even humans are based on some evolutionary change over time. Orcinus Orcas, which are known as killer whales, are one example of evolutionary selection. Every whale and dolphin evolved from a deer- like animal. Killer whales’ and dolphins’ ancestors lived between 53 - 56 million years ago. This ancestor became more fit over time. The ancestor became smarter

controversial questions of our time. Through observation and examination, scientists have determined that humans and every other modern day animal came from a series of ancient predecessors. This process is called evolution. Even though there is more than enough evidence to support evolution, there are many people, in fact billions, that believe man came to be in a very different fashion. Their theory is based on a model presented in the bible. The bible is a book full of stories that describe the actions

Introduction: In recent years, animals in captive environments such as zoos and theme parks have grown more controversial. The literature I have reviewed focuses on a particular group of animals in captivity, cetaceans. Cetaceans include whales, dolphins, and porpoises. The literature includes a range of themes, from their unique level of intelligence to why they may mentally and physically suffer in captive environments. However, it all connects to how and why these animals live and behave differently

“The process of evolution can be very slow, and allows living creatures to develop an anatomy that is structured for them to thrive” (Dolphin Evolution). Evolution is the gradual development of a creature, especially from a simple to a more complex organism. Many mammals have evolved from one animal to another. For instance, dolphins has evolved from land animals to ocean animals. All of the dolphins belong to the cetacean family, which also include whales, dolphins and porpoises. Dolphins are now

Christian apologetics. Particularly, Sarfati defends the Christian view of creation over that of evolution, which is why he wrote Refuting Evolution in 2002. In Refuting Evolution, Jonathan Sarfati gives astounding controversies to the National Academy of Sciences' (NAS) Teaching about Evolution and the Nature of Science. In an amazingly brief negation of the NAS’s best arguments for evolution and long ages, Dr. Sarfati’s strong-willed personality exposes the shallowness of the most well-known

THE EVOLUTIONARY CRISIS OF MARINE MAMMALS Heidy Noriega PORTLAND COMMUNITY COLLEGE SYLVANIA Table of Contents Introduction pg. 3 Evolution pg. 4 Climate Change pg. 5 Fishing pg. 6 Pollution pg. 6 Summary pg. 7 References pg. 8 Introduction Marine mammals have held a residency on this Earth for millions of years with ancestors dating back to prehistoric times. They are not only a part of our history, but also a part of myth and legends that have

The Evolution of Whales The origin of modern day whales, a mystery that has puzzled paleontologists for years, may have just been solved with the discovery of an ankle bone. This discovery might sound simple and unimportant, but the bones of these ancient animals hold many unanswered questions and provide solid proof of origin and behavior. The relationship between whales and other animals has proven to be difficult because whales are warm-blooded, like humans, yet they live in the sea.