Analyzing the anatomy of early fossil cetaceans in the context of modern mammals to understand the evolution of cetaceans from terrestrial ancestors. The evolution of modern cetaceans (including ...

A recent research revealed a remarkable story of whale evolution—how these magnificent marine mammals transitioned from land-dwelling creatures to ocean rulers through three distinct and rapid ...

Call it an unfinished story, but with a plot that's a grabber. It's the tale of an ancient land mammal making its way back to the sea, becoming the forerunner of today's whales. In doing so, it ...

This story appears in the August 2010 issue of National Geographic magazine. Thirty-seven million years ago, in the waters of the prehistoric Tethys Ocean, a sinuous, 50-foot-long beast with ...

Researchers have identified a 33-million-year-old whale fossil that may represent the missing link between toothed and baleen whales, according to a study published today (November 29) in Current ...

Early ancestors of the ocean's biggest animals once walked on land. Follow their extraordinary journey from shore to sea. Although whales are expert swimmers and perfectly adapted to life underwater, ...

A newly described plesiosaur fossil from southern Germany is providing crucial evidence about the diversification of these ...

Life on Earth had to begin somewhere, and scientists think that “somewhere” is LUCA—or the Last Universal Common Ancestor.

Tagging and monitoring whales can reveal their extensive migration routes, but not how far—or whether—their ancestors roamed five million years ago. UC Berkeley researcher Larry Taylor knew ...

In the early 1970s, engineers listening for Russian submarines started detecting strange underwater signals. Using hydrophones (underwater microphones), they repeatedly picked up rhythmic, varying ...