eocene

Wadi Al Hitan, the Valley of the Whales, is a site that’s yielded dozens of skeletons of the early predatory whales Basilosaurus and Dorudon over the last hundred years. Newly uncovered specimens support the idea that it was a calving ground for the dolphin-sized Dorudon, and that those calves were hunted by the much larger Basilosaurus.

Known from fossils found in Eocene-aged rocks in Europe and Africa, this ancient bat didn’t eat fruit or insects, like most living bats. Instead its teeth show it focused on larger targets.

Baleen whales underwent a number of evolutionary transitions on the journey from small hunters to giant filter-feeders. Recent research shows that there were a large number of experimental methods of feeding, including the origin of filter feeding long before the origin of baleen.

New fossils tell us that previously known giant “ducks” lived farther north than ever before. More than 53 million years ago, the Arctic was warm, and covered with extensive jungles and swamps. It was a far cry from the icy carpet that covers the region today.

Whales are mammals! While that simple concept is a platitude to 21st century readers, it was not for most people throughout human history. Even those who were intimately familiar with the shape and behavior of whales, the whalers who hunted them, thought of whales as fish.

Researchers in Germany have unveiled the results of their analysis of a remarkable fossil – a female horse-like mammal called Eurohippus that contains a very well-preserved fetus.

How did whales become one of the few groups of mammals to go back into the sea? Ambulocetus bridges the gap between small terrestrial ancestors and the sea-faring behemoths more recognizable as whales.