Is Indohyus extinct?
Is Indohyus extinct?
Indohyus is an extinct genus of digitigrade artiodactyls known from Eocene fossils in Asia. This small chevrotain-like animal found in the Himalayas is one of the earliest known members of the cetacean stem group.
When did the Indohyus go extinct?
Indohyus (“India’s pig”) is a genus of extinct artiodactyl known from Eocene fossils in Asia, purported to be approximately 48 million years old. A December 2007 article in Nature by Thewissen et al….Indohyus.
Indohyus Fossil range: Middle Eocene | |
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Genus: | Indohyus Rao, 1971 |
Species: | I. indirae I. major |
Is Indohyus a whale?
The latest discovery, named Indohyus, is the first whale ancestor known to have lived on land. A team led by Hans Thewissen at the Northeastern Ohio Universities College of Medicine reconstructed a near-complete skeleton of the animal, close in size to a domestic cat, dating from 48m years ago.
What do scientists call the ear bones that were found in Indohyus?
The secret is in the skull. Being mammals, whales have domes of bone on their skulls that enclose the middle ear. These are called tympanic bullae.
How long ago did Indohyus live?
They’ve identified what they believe is the closest fossil relative of whales. It’s a raccoon-sized beast named Indohyus that lived 48 million years ago in Kashmir.
How did dolphins evolve?
Scientists believe that dolphins evolved from a hoofed, land-living mammal called ‘Mesonyx’, and returned to live in the seas some fifty million years ago. They may have looked like a large dog originally, but have looked dolphin-shaped for millions of years.
What is the oldest whale ever found?
bowhead whales
At this time the oldest mammals recorded were a 114 y/o fin whale, an 110 y/o blue whale, and the oldest person reached 122 y/o. Biologists had believed bowhead whales had long lifespans too but this seemed to prove it.
What did a blue whale evolve from?
The descendants of Dorudon went on to evolve into modern whales. About 34 million years ago, a group of whales began to develop a new way of eating. They had flatter skulls and feeding filters in their mouths. These are called baleen whales, which include blue whales and humpback whales.
How old is the Indohyus?
approximately 48-million-year-
Now Thewissen and colleagues have discovered the skeleton of Indohyus, an approximately 48-million-year-old even-toed ungulate from the Kashmir region of India, as the closest known fossil relative of whales.
Why whales are like Indohyus?
Even though Indohyus had the elegant legs of a small deer and walked around on hooves, it also had features found only in modern and fossil whales. Its jaws and teeth were similar to those of early whales, but the best evidence was the presence of a thickened knob of bone in its middle ear, called an involucrum.
What was the ancestor of the whale?
Pakicetus
Meet Pakicetus, a goat-sized, four-legged creature that scientists recognise as one of the first cetaceans (the group of marine animals that includes dolphins and whales). How Pakicetus’ descendants evolved into whales is one of the most intriguing evolutionary journeys known to science.
What is the scientific name of the Blue Whale?
Balaenoptera musculus
Blue whale/Scientific names
For example, the blue whale is known by two names. Most people call them by their common name, blue whale, while scientists use the scientific name, Balaenoptera musculus. The scientific name of each species is made up of a genus name (Balaenoptera) and a specific species name (musculus).
How is the Indohyus related to the whales?
Indohyus is a fossil, found in 2007, of a chevrotain-like mammal believed by some paleontologists in the Evil Liberal Science Conspiracy to be a transitional form between land-dwelling mammals and the ancestor of whales. (It’s not a direct ancestor to whales, but related to the direct ancestor.)
Where are the fossils of the Indohyus found?
Indohyus is an extinct genus of digitigrade artiodactyls known from Eocene fossils in Kashmir. This small chevrotain -like animal found in the Himalayas is one of the earliest known members of the cetacean stem group.
Where did Indohyus spend most of its time?
The structure of the inner ear has features only seen in cetaceans, and bone density and isotopic analysis seem to indicate it spent a lot of time in the water, wading in the shallows, or perhaps ducking underwater to evade terrestrial threats. Answers in Genesis reluctantly acknowledged Indohyus being found.
What kind of animal is an Indohyus Fox?
Indohyus belongs to an early radiation of artiodactyl mammals called raoellids, archaic even-toed hoofed mammals known mostly from teeth and found only in Eocene southern Asia. Indohyus is known from a partially-complete skeleton, which reveals peculiar features. It is about the size of a fox with heavy leg bones.
Is Indohyus extinct? Indohyus is an extinct genus of digitigrade artiodactyls known from Eocene fossils in Asia. This small chevrotain-like animal found in the Himalayas is one of the earliest known members of the cetacean stem group. When did the Indohyus go extinct? Indohyus (“India’s pig”) is a genus of extinct artiodactyl known from Eocene…