Cetacean evolution continued after that with the two suborders of whales that have modern representatives, Odontoceti (toothed whales, which includes porpoises and dolphins) and Mysticeti Filter feeding is very beneficial as it allows baleen whales to efficiently gain huge energy resources, which makes the large body size in modern varieties possible. Main Text. In addition to the approximately… Whales, dolphins and porpoises are cetaceans (Class Mammalia, Order Cetacea) Of all the marine mammals, cetaceans (and sirenians) have made the most complete transition to aquatic life Spend their entire lives in the water The bodies of cetaceans are streamlined and look remarkably fish-like; an example of convergent evolution Mishra and his colleague Hans Thewissen, a Dutch-American palaeontologist, looked around bright red and yellow rocks in Kutch belonging to a geological epoch called the Eocene which was a … The Odontoceti, or toothed whales (from the Greek: odontos – tooth; ketos – whale), is comprised of 72 generally recognized species that include dolphins and porpoises as well as the giant sperm whale made famous by Herman Melville’s Moby Dick, and other whales of intermediate size. Phylogeny & Evolution The majority of marine mammals belong to the order Cetacea, which includes whales, dolphins, and porpoises. All modern baleen whales or mysticetes are filter-feeders which have baleen in place of teeth, though the exact means by which baleen is used differs among species (gulp-feeding within balaenopterids, skim-feeding within balaenids, and bottom plowing within eschrichtiids). (For more on Archaeocetes check out this post.) While dolphins and porpoises are in the same order and suborder as whales, they generally aren't given a name that includes the word whale. Read on below to learn more! These two groups both originated in the early Eocene, and … Evolution of Whales and Dolphins Dolphins and porpoises and whales belong to either of two cetacean families, the Platanistidae (fresh-water dolphins) or Delphinidae (including all other dolphins, the porpoises, the porpoises and cetaceans commonly called whales). The name Cetacea comes from the Greek ketos meaning whale. Whales, Dolphins, Porpoises in Order Cetacea”. The act is meant to protect whales, dolphins and porpoises from being bred and held in captivity for entertainment purposes. Often, seemingly minor features provide critical evidence to link animals that are highly … According to fossils dating back about 50 million years, whales even share a common ancestor with the land-dwelling hippopotamus. However, their skulls particularly in the ear region, which is surrounded by a bony wall strongly resemble those of living whales and are unlike those of any other mammal. Blubber, blowholes and flukes are among the hallmarks of the roughly 80 species of cetaceans (whales, dolphins and porpoises) alive today. Until 1909, naturalists grouped hippos with pigs, based on molar patterns. This does not mean that whales evolved from hippos, but if this genetic finding is correct, whales and hippos both evolved from a common ancestor which lived roughly 54 million years ago. But there is much more to cetacean evolution than meets the eye. It evolved as an adaptation that gave certain individuals a reproductive advantage over the long course of its gradual development. Artiodactyla, which are even toed ungulates. Several lines of evidence, first from blood proteins, then from molecular systematics and DNA and the fossil record, show that their closest living relatives are cetaceans – whales, dolphins and porpoises. Scientists have concluded that whales, dolphins and porpoises have evolved from Archaeocetes, the name given to a group of ancient whales. The cetaceans (whales, dolphins and porpoises) are descendants of land-living mammals. Collectively, whales, dolphins and porpoises are marine mammals belonging to the order Cetacea (derived from the Greek word ketos, meaning “large sea creature”).. The original forerunner is named Pakicetus and lived about 50 million years ago. Two major groups of extant whales are recognized — toothed whales (Odontoceti) and baleen whales (Mysticeti). 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