Fossil foetus shows that early whales gave birth on land


	Fossil foetus shows that early whales gave birth on land

JohnWaterman

2-4-2009 1:29 PM

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2-4-2009 10:07 PM

tanyamm

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<div style="margin: 12px 0px; font-family: arial; color: #333333; background: #ffffff; border: solid 4px #e5e5e5; width: 100%; clear: left;"><div class="CM_CTB_Content_Wrap" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;background-color: #ffffff;"><div style="border-bottom: solid 1px #dcdcdc; white-space: nowrap; margin-bottom: 8px; background-color: #eeeeee ;background-image: url(http://www.clipmarks.com/images/source-bg.gif); background-repeat: repeat-x; height: 24px; line-height: 24px; vertical-align: middle; padding-bottom: 4px; color: #666666; font-size: 10px;" ><a href="http://clipmarks.com/clip-to-blog/" title="see clips that are hot right now"><img src="http://content.clipmarks.com/blog_embed/6d3ec6ff-15e5-457d-9066-38e4864fe711/656E5863-1BE7-4FDE-9F0D-030BECA81E3F/" alt="" width="19" height="19" border="0" style="vertical-align: middle; margin: 0px 4px; display: inline; border: none; float:none;" /></a>clipped from <a title="http://scienceblogs.com/notrocketscience/2009/02/fossil_foetus_shows_that_early_whales_gave_birth_on_land.php" href="http://scienceblogs.com/notrocketscience/2009/02/fossil_foetus_shows_that_early_whales_gave_birth_on_land.php" style="font-size: 11px;">scienceblogs.com</a></div><blockquote style="text-align: left; padding: 0px 8px; margin: 4px 0px 8px 0px; background: transparent; border: none;" cite="http://scienceblogs.com/notrocketscience/2009/02/fossil_foetus_shows_that_early_whales_gave_birth_on_land.php"><P><A href="http://bpr3.org/?p=52"><IMG height="50" width="80" alt="Blogging on Peer-Reviewed Research" src="http://bpr3.org/images/rbicons/ResearchBlogging-Medium-White.png" class="inset" /></A>Nine years ago, a team of fossil-hunters led by <A href="http://www-personal.umich.edu/~gingeric/">Philip Gingerich</A> from the University of Michigan uncovered something amazing - the petrified remains of an ancient whale, but one unlike any that had been found before. Within the creature's abdomen lay a collection of similar but much smaller bones. They were the fossilised remains of a foetal whale, perfectly preserved within the belly of its mother. Gingerich says, "This is the '<A href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lucy_(Australopithecus)">Lucy</A>' of whale evolution."
</P></blockquote><div style="height: 2px; font-size: 2px; background: #dcdcdc; border-bottom: solid 1px #f5f5f5; margin: 2px 4px;"></div><blockquote style="text-align: left; padding: 0px 8px; margin: 4px 0px 8px 0px; background: transparent; border: none;" cite="http://scienceblogs.com/notrocketscience/2009/02/fossil_foetus_shows_that_early_whales_gave_birth_on_land.php"><div align="center"><img src="http://content8.clipmarks.com/blog_cache/scienceblogs.com/img/388B0309-B70B-4BBA-B727-6638B7BFB016" alt="FoetusMaiacetus.jpg" /></div></blockquote><div style="height: 2px; font-size: 2px; background: #dcdcdc; border-bottom: solid 1px #f5f5f5; margin: 2px 4px;"></div><blockquote style="text-align: left; padding: 0px 8px; margin: 4px 0px 8px 0px; background: transparent; border: none;" cite="http://scienceblogs.com/notrocketscience/2009/02/fossil_foetus_shows_that_early_whales_gave_birth_on_land.php">an unparalleled glimpse at the lifestyle of an ancient whale before the group had made the permanent transition to the seas. How it gave birth, where it lived, how it competed for mates - all these aspects of its life are revealed by these beautiful new finds</blockquote><div style="height: 2px; font-size: 2px; background: #dcdcdc; border-bottom: solid 1px #f5f5f5; margin: 2px 4px;"></div><blockquote style="text-align: left; padding: 0px 8px; margin: 4px 0px 8px 0px; background: transparent; border: none;" cite="http://scienceblogs.com/notrocketscience/2009/02/fossil_foetus_shows_that_early_whales_gave_birth_on_land.php">head-first delivery means that <EM>Maiacetus </EM>gave birth as a landlubber.</blockquote><div style="height: 2px; font-size: 2px; background: #dcdcdc; border-bottom: solid 1px #f5f5f5; margin: 2px 4px;"></div><blockquote style="text-align: left; padding: 0px 8px; margin: 4px 0px 8px 0px; background: transparent; border: none;" cite="http://scienceblogs.com/notrocketscience/2009/02/fossil_foetus_shows_that_early_whales_gave_birth_on_land.php">Whales</blockquote><div style="height: 2px; font-size: 2px; background: #dcdcdc; border-bottom: solid 1px #f5f5f5; margin: 2px 4px;"></div><blockquote style="text-align: left; padding: 0px 8px; margin: 4px 0px 8px 0px; background: transparent; border: none;" cite="http://scienceblogs.com/notrocketscience/2009/02/fossil_foetus_shows_that_early_whales_gave_birth_on_land.php">evolution has been <A href="http://scienceblogs.com/loom/2005/09/22/the_steps_of_the_puzzle.php">beautifully charted</A> by a series of "<A href="http://www.talkorigins.org/faqs/faq-transitional.html">transitional fossils</A>" documenting the <A href="http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=I2C-3PjNGok&eurl=http://scienceblogs.com/pharyngula/2008/02/two_tales_of_whale_evolution.php">change in their bodies</A> over massive gulfs of time</blockquote><div style="height: 2px; font-size: 2px; background: #dcdcdc; border-bottom: solid 1px #f5f5f5; margin: 2px 4px;"></div><blockquote style="text-align: left; padding: 0px 8px; margin: 4px 0px 8px 0px; background: transparent; border: none;" cite="http://scienceblogs.com/notrocketscience/2009/02/fossil_foetus_shows_that_early_whales_gave_birth_on_land.php"> evolved from <A href="http://notexactlyrocketscience.wordpress.com/2007/12/24/whales-evolved-from-small-aquatic-hoofed-ancestors/">deer-like ancestors</A>,</blockquote><div style="height: 2px; font-size: 2px; background: #dcdcdc; border-bottom: solid 1px #f5f5f5; margin: 2px 4px;"></div><blockquote style="text-align: left; padding: 0px 8px; margin: 4px 0px 8px 0px; background: transparent; border: none;" cite="http://scienceblogs.com/notrocketscience/2009/02/fossil_foetus_shows_that_early_whales_gave_birth_on_land.php"><div align="center"><img src="http://content9.clipmarks.com/blog_cache/scienceblogs.com/img/C35C50F8-A282-4BAF-90CB-CEA69F761C41" alt="Maiacetus.jpg" /></div></blockquote></div><div style="margin: 0px 6px 6px 4px;"><table style="font-size: 11px;border-spacing: 0px;padding: 0px;" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" width="100%"><tr><td style="background:transparent;border-width:0px;padding:0px;">&nbsp;</td><td align="right" style="background:transparent;border-width:0px;padding:0px;width:107px" width="107"><a href="http://clipmarks.com/share/656E5863-1BE7-4FDE-9F0D-030BECA81E3F/blog/" title="blog or email this clip"><img src="http://content6.clipmarks.com/images/c2b-foot.png" border="0" alt="blog it" width="107" height="17" style="border-width:0px;padding:0px;margin:0px;" /></a></td></tr></table></div></div>

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