Ambulocetus
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| Ambulocetus Temporal range: Early Eocene |
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| Ambulocetus | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Mammalia |
| Order: | Cetacea |
| Suborder: | Archaeoceti |
| Family: | Ambulocetidae |
| Subfamily: | Ambulocetinae |
| Genus: | Ambulocetus |
| Species: | A. natans |
| Binomial name | |
| Ambulocetus natans Thewissen et al., 1996 |
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Ambulocetus (or the "'walking whale'") was an early cetacean that could walk as well as swim. It lived during early Eocene some 50-49 million years ago. It is a transitional fossil that shows how whales evolved from land-living mammals. The Ambulocetus fossils were found in Pakistan by anthropologist Johannes Thewissen. When the animal was alive, Pakistan was a coastal region of India, which was then a large island in the Indian Ocean.
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Description
Having the appearance of a 3 meter (10-foot) long mammalian crocodile, it was clearly amphibious, as its back legs are better adapted for swimming than for walking on land, and it probably swam by undulating its back vertically, as otters and whales do. It has been speculated that Ambulocetids hunted like crocodiles, lurking in the shallows to snatch unsuspecting prey. Chemical analysis of its teeth shows that it was able to move between salt and fresh water. Ambulocetus did not have external ears. To detect prey on land, they may have lowered their heads to the ground and felt for vibrations.
Scientists consider Ambulocetus to be an early whale because it shares underwater adaptations with them: it had an adaptation in the nose that enabled it to swallow underwater, and its periotic bones had a structure like those of whales, enabling it to hear well underwater. In addition, its teeth are similar to those of early cetaceans.
In popular culture
Ambulocetus can be seen in the British series Walking with Beasts. During chapter 1 it is said to have swum upstream from the coast, explaining why it is seen in Germany, rather than its native Pakistan. It is portrayed with sprawling limbs like a crocodile, though it would have had erect (straight) limbs.
In the novel Ice Hunt by American writer James Rollins, live Ambulocetus (called "grendels") are found inside an Arctic iceberg.
It makes an appearance in the shows National Geographic Evolutions: The Walking Whale.
See also
- Evolution of cetaceans
- NEOUCOM; the Ambulocetus is the unofficial school mascot of the Northeastern Ohio Universities College of Medicine. The man who discovered the "walking whale," Johannes Thewissen, is an anatomy professor at the medical school.
References
- J. G. M. Thewissen, S. I. Madar, and S. T. Hussain (1996). "Ambulocetus natans, an Eocene cetacean (Mammalia) from Pakistan". Courier Forschungsinstitut Senckenberg 191: 1–86.
External links
- BBC Online
- Ambulocetidae: The First Costal Whales by J. G. M. Thewissen.
