Cornell University Press, Ithaca, New York. Drickamer, S.H. Sources:
Carroll, R.L.
Some cetaceans are the only animals other than elephants that have a brain larger than man’s. Cetacea, 68, 74. described by Megasthenes and AElian, 69. They are examples of convergent evolution of function largely in response, it appears, to similar societal demands. Whales are highly specialized for life in the water. Animal life in the sea is very rich; turtles and many kinds of fish and Cetaceae are plentiful. Orders: (a) Monodelphia: Bimana, Quadrumana, Cheiroptera, Insectivora, Rodentia, Edentata, Carnivora, Amphibia, Pachydermata, Ruminantia.
"Twenty Thousand Leagues under the Sea" by. Meet some of New Zealand's unique fauna, including endemic insects, frogs, reptiles, birds, and mammals, and investigate why many have such distinctive features.
Including Discoveries And Surveys In New Guinea, The Louisiade Archipelago, Etc. There are about 89 species of cetaceans. most have eyes well adapted to underwater vision and can also see well above water. Some cetaceans are the only animals other than elephants that have a brain larger than man’s. With the exception of the Cetacea, most of the Edentata, and the Sirenia, in which the teeth, when present, have been specialized in a retrograde or aberrant manner, the placental mammals as a whole have a dentition conforming more or less closely to the foregoing type. Cetaceans are descended from land-dwelling hoofed mammals, and the now extinct archaeocetes represent the several transitional phases from terrestrial to completely aquatic. The forelimbs are specialized to form
flippers, and the hind limbs and pelvis are extremely small and do not normally
extend out of the body wall of the animal. Volume 1." "Two Years with the Natives in the Western Pacific" by. The mouth of the great majority of mammals is peculiar for being guarded by thick fleshy lips, which are, however, absent in the Cetacea; their principal function being to seize the food, for which purpose they are endowed, as a rule, with more or less strongly marked prehensile power. Historically, cetaceans were thought to have descended from the wolf-like mesonyc… They do not represent the opinions of YourDictionary.com. Photo by Susan Middleton, © 2003 California
Academy of Sciences. Of the marine orders of Sirenia and Cetacea the Dugong, Halicore, is exclusively found in the Indian Ocean; and a dolphin, Platanista, peculiar to the Ganges, ascends that river to a great distance from the sea. By the
Miocene, whales
of both lineages are relatively common fossils in many marine deposits. n. pl Cetacea (Zoöl) An order of marine mammals, including the whales. Drickamer, S.H. Pakicetus
is so far known only from its skull, but recent finds in Pakistan have produced other
whale species that show very primitive characters in both the skull and the rest
of the skeleton.
Patterns and Processes of Vertebrate Evolution. Returning to Manger, his controversial claim is reminiscent of the conclusion reached about bees by physicists and mathematicians in the 1930s—that the anatomical structure of bees and the known principles of flight indicate that bee flight is impossible [ 90 ]. Photo © Mark Uhen, Cranbrook Institute of Science. Orders: Bimana, Quadrumana, Carnivora, Marsupialia, Rodentia, Edentata, Pachydermata, Ruminantia, Cetacea. All Rights Reserved. Gingerich, P.D., S.M. Like ordinary mammals they breathe by means of lungs, and bring forth living young which they suckle for some time. And check out the work of UCMP scientists Healy Hamilton
and Allen Collins on
the evolution
of river dolphins.
Please set a username for yourself. Scientists who later examined Basilosaurus, notably
Richard Owen,
realized the error. Views expressed here do not necessarily reflect those of Biology Online, its staff, or its partners. McGraw-Hill, Boston. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge.