Evolutions: The Walking Whale
Using the latest technology and the most dramatic fossil finds, scientists have found similarities from a wolf-like land mammal, Pakicetus, and the modern day whale. We recreate the ancient whale’s key dramatic moments – battles against vicious predators, extinction near-misses, its entry into the sea full-time and how the ice age became its unlikely saviour.
Using the latest technology and the most dramatic fossil finds, scientists have found similarities from a wolf-like land mammal, Pakicetus, and the modern day whale. We recreate the ancient whale’s key dramatic moments – battles against vicious predators, extinction near-misses, its entry into the sea full-time and how the ice age became its unlikely saviour.
Using the latest technology and the most dramatic fossil finds, scientists have found similarities from a wolf-like land mammal, Pakicetus, and the modern day whale. We recreate the ancient whale’s key dramatic moments – battles against vicious predators, extinction near-misses, its entry into the sea full-time and how the ice age became its unlikely saviour.
Using the latest technology and the most dramatic fossil finds, scientists have found similarities from a wolf-like land mammal, Pakicetus, and the modern day whale whale. We recreate the ancient whale’s key dramatic moments – battles against vicious predators, extinction near-misses, its entry into the sea full-time and how the ice age became its unlikely saviour.
Using the latest technology and the most dramatic fossil finds, scientists have found similarities from a wolf-like land mammal, Pakicetus, and the modern day whale. We recreate the ancient whale’s key dramatic moments – battles against vicious predators, extinction near-misses, its entry into the sea full-time and how the ice age became its unlikely saviour.
Using the latest technology and the most dramatic fossil finds, scientists have found the key to the whale's survival in the ocean is its small inner ear - the organ of balance. It allows the whale to turn and twist at high speed without getting disorientated.
Prof. Gingerich walking across valley in the Wadi Hitan mountains in Egypt. Wadi Al-Hitan (aka "Whale Valley") is a palaeontological site in the Al Fayyum Governorate of Egypt, some 150 km southwest of Cairo. Prof. Philip Gingerich, Professor of Geological Sciences and curator of the Museum of Paleontology at the University of Michigan, is a mammal paleontologist who has done crucial research into the phylogeny and origin of whales, including the discovery and description of the earliest known whale, Pakicetus and the archaic whale Rodhocetus, as well as work on the osteology of Ambulocetus.
General view of Wadi Hitan mountains. Wadi Al-Hitan (aka "Whale Valley") is a palaeontological site in the Al Fayyum Governorate of Egypt, some 150 km southwest of Cairo.
Ambulocetus Skeleton at Prof. Hans Thewissen's laboratory in Cleveland, Ohio. Prof. Thewissen Ph.D., currently works in the Department of Anatomy and Neurobiology at Northeastern Ohio Universities, College of Medicine. His research interests center around the evolutionary patterns associated with major morphological shifts in mammalian evolution.
Prof. Hans Thewissen Ph.D. studying skeleton of Amulocetus at his laboratory in Cleveland, Ohio. Prof. Thewissen's research interests centre around the evolutionary patterns associated with major morphological shifts in mammalian evolution.
Prof. Fred Spoor analysing a fragment of a skull in his laboratory at University of Central London (UCL). Prof. Spoor is currently Professor of Evolutionary Anatomy in the Department of Cell and Developmental Biology, affiliated with the Koobi Fora Research Project, and a research associate of the National Museums of Kenya. Prof. Spoor's main research falls into two areas: Human palaeontology, evolution of skull morphology during the Plio-Pleistocene of Africa in particular, with an emphasis on functional and developmental aspects. As well as comparative and functional morphology of the mammalian inner ear, with a focus on the relationship between the organ of balance and locomotion of particular species.
Prof. Philip Gingerich during an interview in the mountains. Wadi Al-Hitan (aka "Whale Valley") is a palaeontological site in the Al Fayyum Governorate of Egypt, some 150 km southwest of Cairo. Prof. Gingerich, Professor of Geological Sciences and curator of the Museum of Paleontology at the University of Michigan, is a mammal paleontologist who has done crucial research into the phylogeny and origin of whales, including the discovery and description of the earliest known whale, Pakicetus and the archaic whale Rodhocetus, as well as work on the osteology of Ambulocetus.
Prof. Philip Gingerich, Professor of Geological Sciences and curator of the Museum of Paleontology at the University of Michigan, during an interview at Wadi Al-Hitan (aka "Whale Valley").
Prof. Philip Gingerich, Professor of Geological Sciences and curator of the Museum of Paleontology at the University of Michigan, is a mammal paleontologist who has done crucial research into the phylogeny and origin of whales, including the discovery and description of the earliest known whale, Pakicetus and the archaic whale Rodhocetus, as well as work on the osteology of Ambulocetus.
Prof. Philip Gingerich with digger plus skeleton of Basilosaurus at Wadi Al-Hitan (aka "Whale Valley"), a palaeontological site in the Al Fayyum Governorate of Egypt, some 150 km southwest of Cairo.
Prof. Gingerich with two diggers in Wadi Hitan, Egypt. Wadi Al-Hitan (aka "Whale Valley") is a palaeontological site in the Al Fayyum Governorate of Egypt, some 150 km southwest of Cairo.
Using the latest technology and the most dramatic fossil finds, scientists have found similarities from a wolf-like land mammal, Pakicetus, and the modern day whale. We recreate the ancient whale’s key dramatic moments – battles against vicious predators, extinction near-misses, its entry into the sea full-time and how the ice age became its unlikely saviour.
Using the latest technology and the most dramatic fossil finds, scientists have found similarities from a wolf-like land mammal, Pakicetus, and the modern day whale whale. We recreate the ancient whale’s key dramatic moments – battles against vicious predators, extinction near-misses, its entry into the sea full-time and how the ice age became its unlikely saviour.
Using the latest technology and the most dramatic fossil finds, scientists have found similarities from a wolf-like land mammal, Pakicetus, and the modern day whale. We recreate the ancient whale’s key dramatic moments – battles against vicious predators, extinction near-misses, its entry into the sea full-time and how the ice age became its unlikely saviour.
Using the latest technology and the most dramatic fossil finds, scientists have found similarities from a wolf-like land mammal, Pakicetus, and the modern day whale. We recreate the ancient whale’s key dramatic moments – battles against vicious predators, extinction near-misses, its entry into the sea full-time and how the ice age became its unlikely saviour.
Using the latest technology and the most dramatic fossil finds, scientists have found the key to the whale's survival in the ocean is its small inner ear - the organ of balance. It allows the whale to turn and twist at high speed without getting disorientated.
Using the latest technology and the most dramatic fossil finds, scientists have found similarities from a wolf-like land mammal, Pakicetus, and the modern day whale. We recreate the ancient whale’s key dramatic moments – battles against vicious predators, extinction near-misses, its entry into the sea full-time and how the ice age became its unlikely saviour.
General view of Wadi Hitan mountains. Wadi Al-Hitan (aka "Whale Valley") is a palaeontological site in the Al Fayyum Governorate of Egypt, some 150 km southwest of Cairo.
Prof. Gingerich walking across valley in the Wadi Hitan mountains in Egypt. Wadi Al-Hitan (aka "Whale Valley") is a palaeontological site in the Al Fayyum Governorate of Egypt, some 150 km southwest of Cairo. Prof. Philip Gingerich, Professor of Geological Sciences and curator of the Museum of Paleontology at the University of Michigan, is a mammal paleontologist who has done crucial research into the phylogeny and origin of whales, including the discovery and description of the earliest known whale, Pakicetus and the archaic whale Rodhocetus, as well as work on the osteology of Ambulocetus.
Prof. Fred Spoor analysing a fragment of a skull in his laboratory at University of Central London (UCL). Prof. Spoor is currently Professor of Evolutionary Anatomy in the Department of Cell and Developmental Biology, affiliated with the Koobi Fora Research Project, and a research associate of the National Museums of Kenya. Prof. Spoor's main research falls into two areas: Human palaeontology, evolution of skull morphology during the Plio-Pleistocene of Africa in particular, with an emphasis on functional and developmental aspects. As well as comparative and functional morphology of the mammalian inner ear, with a focus on the relationship between the organ of balance and locomotion of particular species.
Prof. Hans Thewissen Ph.D. studying skeleton of Amulocetus at his laboratory in Cleveland, Ohio. Prof. Thewissen's research interests centre around the evolutionary patterns associated with major morphological shifts in mammalian evolution.
Ambulocetus Skeleton at Prof. Hans Thewissen's laboratory in Cleveland, Ohio. Prof. Thewissen Ph.D., currently works in the Department of Anatomy and Neurobiology at Northeastern Ohio Universities, College of Medicine. His research interests center around the evolutionary patterns associated with major morphological shifts in mammalian evolution.
Prof. Philip Gingerich, Professor of Geological Sciences and curator of the Museum of Paleontology at the University of Michigan, during an interview at Wadi Al-Hitan (aka "Whale Valley").
Prof. Philip Gingerich during an interview in the mountains. Wadi Al-Hitan (aka "Whale Valley") is a palaeontological site in the Al Fayyum Governorate of Egypt, some 150 km southwest of Cairo. Prof. Gingerich, Professor of Geological Sciences and curator of the Museum of Paleontology at the University of Michigan, is a mammal paleontologist who has done crucial research into the phylogeny and origin of whales, including the discovery and description of the earliest known whale, Pakicetus and the archaic whale Rodhocetus, as well as work on the osteology of Ambulocetus.
Prof. Philip Gingerich with digger plus skeleton of Basilosaurus at Wadi Al-Hitan (aka "Whale Valley"), a palaeontological site in the Al Fayyum Governorate of Egypt, some 150 km southwest of Cairo.
Prof. Philip Gingerich, Professor of Geological Sciences and curator of the Museum of Paleontology at the University of Michigan, is a mammal paleontologist who has done crucial research into the phylogeny and origin of whales, including the discovery and description of the earliest known whale, Pakicetus and the archaic whale Rodhocetus, as well as work on the osteology of Ambulocetus.
Prof. Gingerich with two diggers in Wadi Hitan, Egypt. Wadi Al-Hitan (aka "Whale Valley") is a palaeontological site in the Al Fayyum Governorate of Egypt, some 150 km southwest of Cairo.