Whale with Teeth not a Toothed Whale
10:16 pm
…that is to say, scientists have described a fossil whale with a wicked set of chompers that comes from the base of the mysticete (baleen whale) lineage as opposed to the odontocete (toothed whale) line. Janjucetus hunderi, from the Late Oligocene of Australia, shows that the ancestors of today’s filter-feeding giants didn’t evolve their plankton-straining baleen until well after they split away from other whales.
The reference is:
Erich M. G. Fitzgerald, A bizarre new toothed mysticete (Cetacea) from Australia and the early evolution of baleen whales. Proceedings of the Royal Society B. First-Cite Early Online Publishing. doi:10.1098/rspb.2006.3664 1
Here’s the story from the Australian Broadcasting Company.
And Carl Zimmer has an in-depth review with figures at The Loom.
Update 8/16: More Janjucetus info and artwork available on Brian Choo’s website.
Am I the only one who thinks it’s ridiculous that science journals charge an arm and a leg for a single article? This sort of information should be free, darnit. I want this paper!
Interesting story for sure, though. The evolution of whales fascinates me.