Pakicetus attocki (West, 1980) - fossil transitional whale skull (cast) from the Eocene of Pakistan. (public display, Nebraska State Museum of Natural History, Lincoln, Nebraska, USA)
From museum signage:
"Pakicetus was one of the very earliest types of whales.
Features found in whales:
- thickened bony cases around the ears on the underside of the skull, called auditory bullae.
Features found in land mammals:
- teeth specialized for tearing and chewing food.
"
Classification: Animalia, Chordata, Vertebrata, Mammalia, Artiodactyla, Cetacea, Archaeoceti, Pakicetidae
Stratigraphy: Kuldana Formation, Lower Eocene
Locality: Early Eocene Geological Survey of Pakistan locality 62 in the Ganda Kas area, Kala Chitta Hills, northern Punjab, northeastern Pakistan
------------------
See info. at:
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pakicetus
and
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pakicetidae
and
faculty.virginia.edu/bio202/202-2002/Lectures%2020202/the...
Tags: Pakicetus attocki fossil fossils whale whales Kuldana Formation Eocene Kala Chitta Hills Punjab Pakistan mammal mammals ancestral transitional transition
Pakicetus attocki (West, 1980) - fossil transitional whale skull (cast) from the Eocene of Pakistan. (public display, Nebraska State Museum of Natural History, Lincoln, Nebraska, USA)
From museum signage:
"Pakicetus was one of the very earliest types of whales.
Features found in whales:
- thickened bony cases around the ears on the underside of the skull, called auditory bullae.
Features found in land mammals:
- teeth specialized for tearing and chewing food.
"
Classification: Animalia, Chordata, Vertebrata, Mammalia, Artiodactyla, Cetacea, Archaeoceti, Pakicetidae
Stratigraphy: Kuldana Formation, Lower Eocene
Locality: Early Eocene Geological Survey of Pakistan locality 62 in the Ganda Kas area, Kala Chitta Hills, northern Punjab, northeastern Pakistan
------------------
See info. at:
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pakicetus
and
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pakicetidae
and
faculty.virginia.edu/bio202/202-2002/Lectures%2020202/the...
Tags: Pakicetus attocki fossil fossils whale whales Kuldana Formation Eocene Kala Chitta Hills Punjab Pakistan mammal mammals ancestral transitional transition
Pakicetus attocki (West, 1980) - reconstruction of a fossil transitional whale from the Eocene of Pakistan. (public signage, Nebraska State Museum of Natural History, Lincoln, Nebraska, USA; reconstruction by John Klausmeyer)
Museum info.:
"Pakicetus was one of the very earliest types of whales.
Features found in whales:
- thickened bony cases around the ears on the underside of the skull, called auditory bullae.
Features found in land mammals:
- teeth specialized for tearing and chewing food.
"
Classification: Animalia, Chordata, Vertebrata, Mammalia, Artiodactyla, Cetacea, Archaeoceti, Pakicetidae
Stratigraphy: Kuldana Formation, Lower Eocene
Locality: Early Eocene Geological Survey of Pakistan locality 62 in the Ganda Kas area, Kala Chitta Hills, northern Punjab, northeastern Pakistan
------------------
See info. at:
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pakicetus
and
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pakicetidae
and
faculty.virginia.edu/bio202/202-2002/Lectures%2020202/the...
Tags: Pakicetus attocki fossil fossils whale whales Kuldana Formation Eocene Kala Chitta Hills Punjab Pakistan mammal mammals ancestral transitional transition reconstruction
Rodhocetus sp. - fossil whale skull (cast) from the Eocene of Pakistan. (public display, Nebraska State Museum of Natural History, Lincoln, Nebraska, USA)
In this early fossil whale, the nostrils are atop the snout and are set in a depression, indicative of the presence of muscles that pinched the nostrils shut when submerged in water.
From museum signage:
"Rodhocetus looked more like today's whales than Pakicetus did.
These whales were partially adapted to life in the water, with short legs that they may have used to waddle about on land - like sea lions do today.
Notice:
- nose partway up the snout.
- simple teeth used to catch and swallow fish.
"
Classification: Animalia, Chordata, Vertebrata, Mammalia, Artiodactyla, Cetacea, Archaeoceti, Protocetidae
------------------
See info. at:
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rodhocetus
and
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Protocetidae
and
www.blc.arizona.edu/courses/schaffer/449/God%20in%20the%2...
Tags: Rodhocetus fossil whale whales fossils skull skulls Middle Eocene Pakistan mammal mammals
Rodhocetus sp. - fossil whale skull (cast) from the Eocene of Pakistan. (public display, Nebraska State Museum of Natural History, Lincoln, Nebraska, USA)
In this early fossil whale, the nostrils are atop the snout and are set in a depression, indicative of the presence of muscles that pinched the nostrils shut when submerged in water.
From museum signage:
"Rodhocetus looked more like today's whales than Pakicetus did.
These whales were partially adapted to life in the water, with short legs that they may have used to waddle about on land - like sea lions do today.
Notice:
- nose partway up the snout.
- simple teeth used to catch and swallow fish.
"
Classification: Animalia, Chordata, Vertebrata, Mammalia, Artiodactyla, Cetacea, Archaeoceti, Protocetidae
------------------
See info. at:
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rodhocetus
and
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Protocetidae
and
www.blc.arizona.edu/courses/schaffer/449/God%20in%20the%2...
Tags: Rodhocetus fossil whale whales fossils skull skulls Middle Eocene Pakistan mammal mammals