The Evolution Of Whales
This should be of interest to everyone here on steemit.com. The evolution needed to become a whale has been shrouded in mysteries for years, but now we (think we) know, so read on!
Image by stux - source: Pixabay
Oh, I'm sorry; you thought this was about steemit evolution, about becoming a steemit whale? Then I'll have to disappoint you, I'm afraid, for two rather obvious reasons. First, I'm a lowly plankton, so what would I know about becoming a Steemit whale? How could I? If you want to know how to become a steemit whale, ask a steemit whale. Just like in nature, they're not always easy to find and sometimes difficult to approach, but are in general peaceful, well meaning and non-threatening mammals and they only eat..... what... plankton!?! Maybe wait with approaching that whale then ;-) Second, everyone knows that steemit evolution is bogus. I mean plankton to minnow to dolphin to whale is nonsense. Whales are descendant from land animals.
This is one of evolution theory's boldest claims; that whales and dolphins are descendants from land-mammals. It's a strange return to the water, as mammals are the latest to arrive in evolution after life left the sea; they are most adapted to living on land. Creationists have for years had a field-day because there were no fossils that linked land animals to the earliest fully aquatic whales. But these "missing links" have been found in the pas few decades, with the last major find in 2007. We now can show that whales and hippos have a common ancestor, and they share a very interesting physical trait.
The evolution of whales - source: Berkley.edu - Understanding Evolution
Hippos can walk on land, but their bones are very dense, with a relatively thick wall with just a narrow tube in the middle for the bone marrow. This makes it so that these four legged creatures can walk on land and on the bottom surface of rivers: they don't float like other mammals that live exclusively above water. These extremely dense bones is what whales and hippos have in common. And like hippos, the first whales were walkers and not swimmers.
The way whales move through the water is another observation to be made to distinguish them from fish. Where fish move their spinal column from side to side, whales move theirs up and down to propel forward. They use their spinal column in a way similar to how four legged mammals used theirs when they run. Here's a short 'n sweet explanation of the several transitional forms between land and sea mammal:
Whale Evolution: by Nature Video
I hope you are intrigued by this return to the sea by mammals, starting with Indohyus. In a timespan of approximately 10 million years the gigantic whales from today, the Mysticetes, evolved from this nasty looking critter:
Indohyus replica - source: Wikipedia
Well... I'd rather be a plankton :-) Thank you, dear reader, to visit this lowly plankton's blog today! I'll be back again tomorrow and hope you will be here too :-) Until then, stay curious and keep steeming!
PS
Thanks to @meno for showing the picture of a Narwhal today, which gave me the idea for this little post :-) Here's a link to a video with a possible explanation of the tusks: Narwhals: new footage reveals possible purpose for mysterious tusk – video.
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I think it's interesting that aquatic mammals come from many different places on the mammal tree. (Down to the platypus, which is basically as far evolutionarily from other mammals as it's possible to get.) Returning to the water seems to be a common strategy. Manatees are related to elephants. Seals and otters are close to each other but much more closely related to land predators than to any other aquatic mammals.
Manatees..? Have to look that one up :-) Thanks for this enlightening addition @tcpolymath :-) Platypus!! Duck-bill mammal that lays eggs... I should do a post on that one sometime. Australia is an evolutionary playground of the nicest kind :-)
Thank you for explaining the evolution of whales to us. I didn't know they were walking! Every day is a school day! :)
I keep learning too every day and that's a good thing; I think it has something to do with this place called steemit.com where we hang out ;-)
Thanks so much for reading and commenting @delishtreats! :-)
Great Post! It somehow reminds me on the Axolotl. Because its a larva and normally when they grow adult they leave water. Not so the Axolotl. It will stay larva but still grow adult underwater.
A very interesting Animal with the ability to regrow Parts of it. From what i heard even his Brain can regrow and it has a few other remarkable features too!
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Axolotl
Axolotl
The axolotl (, from Classical Nahuatl: āxōlōtl [aːˈʃoːloːtɬ] ( listen)), Ambystoma mexicanum, also known as the Mexican walking fish, is a neotenic salamander related to the tiger salamander. Although the axolotl is colloquially known as a "walking fish", it is not a fish, but an amphibian. The species originates from numerous lakes, such as Lake Xochimilco underlying Mexico City. Axolotls are unusual among amphibians in that they reach adulthood without undergoing metamorphosis.
Thanks so much for this response @remotehorst23 :-) Like @tcpolymath you remind me of another wonderful creature in the story of the evolution of life on earth. Imagine if we could regenerate bodyparts like that... ;-)
Darn it! Just when I was about to strike a friendship with a whale. Cheers for this info, just pulled out of a messy situation. Steem-on!!
LOL!! Thanks for surviving another day,@ange.nkuru; natural selection is kind on you ;-)
This post was shared in the Curation Collective Discord community for curators, and upvoted and resteemed by the @c-squared community account after manual review.
Wow... Thanks so much @c-squared; appreciate your work and dedication to the platform so much! :-)
i love whales :D they are so magical and i didn't know their evolution path......... until this post \o/
wonderful, @zyx066! i feel im a smarter spider now \o/
You already were a smart spider :-) But thanks so much for stopping by @veryspider :-) <3
Woah! This is incredible! I had no idea and I'm really glad I found your post today! Heard you on PYPT, and decided to look at your other stuff c;
Thanks so much for showing interest @ecoinstant, and I'm glad you like the post :-)
Hi @zyx066!
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