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Virus and the Whale: Exploring Evolution in Creatures Small and Large
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Whales with knees and toes? Incredible as it seems, whales once walked on legs and lived on land. Millions of years of biological change have erased the whale’s legs from its body. But a faint trace remains. Hidden inside the streamlined body of many modern whales are tiny hip and leg bones. The story of how the whale—marvel of the oceans—evolved from a four-legged mammal is an amazing one. So far, it provides one of the best examples of how organisms change over time. And like whales, the story is still evolving. Just about everything to do with whales was once a big puzzle, even what kind of animal it was. Fish or mammal? Scientists had trouble deciding. From the small dolphin to the enormous grey whale, these animals look and live like fish. They can’t survive out of water—but on the other hand, they can drown in water. Every 15 minutes or so they have to swim to the water’s surface to breathe. Like all mammals, whales are warm-blooded, give birth to babies rather than lay eggs, and nurse their young with milk. They even have a belly button.
WHALES:
Walking Into the Past
Philip Gingerich, paleontologist at the University of Michigan, digs for fossil whales.Photo courtesy University of Michigan Museum of Paleontology.
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So, if whales are mammals, how did they come to live like fish? Could their an-cestors have been land mammals that gradually took to the oceans? When scientists first asked these questions, there was little fossil evidence to provide answers. Until, that is, paleontologist Philip Gingerich discovered a bone in the desert of Pakistan. Many of the great scientific discoveries happen by accident, if the scientist is open to surprises. Philip Gingerich wasn’t looking for whales when he arrived in Paki-stan in 1977 with a team of international scientists. Dr. Gingerich was an expert on extinct land mammals. So he was disappointed to find that the first place he had tar-geted to look for fossils was an ancient seashore. The rocks were filled with fossilized snails and other shellfish—not the best place to find the bones of a land mammal. Like kids in a giant sandbox, Gingerich and his team went to work anyway. After a week of scouring the exposed rocks, they found a few pieces of bone that looked promising: They could make out part of a pelvis and a backbone. Gingerich recalls joking with his team about finding a “walking whale” with hips and legs, but back then it was just a joke. The team assumed that the fossils were bits and pieces of an ancient elephant ancestor, a land mammal that had drifted out to sea after death. But on a December day in 1979, the team found a specimen that was not so easy to explain. Embedded in rock as hard as cement, it was a curious fossil skull. Ging-erich took the skull home to his lab. When the fossil was cleaned up, Gingerich could see that it was no bigger than a wolf ’s skull and had many wolf-like features. The teeth were a mix of canines and molars, and the nostrils were set close to the snout. But at-tached to the skull was a set of tiny thickened ear bones. The only animals on Earth, living or extinct, that have ear bones thickened this way are the whales. Gingerich named the creature Pakicetus (pack-eh-SEA-tus), Whale of Pakistan. It lived about 48.5 million years ago. Based on the land mammal-like features of the skull, Gingerich hypothesized that this whale probably went into the water to
Philip Gingerich searches for ancient whales in the deserts of Pakistan.SMM Lonnie Broden illustration.
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Virus and the Whale: Exploring Evolution in Creatures Small and Large
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feed but came out on land to rest and to give birth. After the unexpected discovery of Pakicetus, Gingerich began to hunt for whales in earnest. Whale fossils are large, and they are relatively easy to find in the desert. Sometimes the wind lends a hand by scouring away the sands and shales, leaving entire skeletons exposed. One valley in Egypt was especially rich in whales. On a series of visits starting in 1983, Gingerich and his team found virtually a whale a day. The final tally came to 379 whales. He found some with hipbones, but Gingerich also hoped to find legs and feet. In 1989 Gingerich was mapping the spine of a well-preserved 50-foot-long skel-eton of Basilosaurus (bah-sill-oh-SOAR-us), a fossil whale that lived about 10 million years after Pakicetus. Two-thirds of the way down the spine he found a small round bone standing vertically. This seemed out of place, and the top was weathered away. When the rest was excavated, the bone proved to be an upper leg bone with the knee joint preserved. No one had ever seen the knee of a whale before. Counting down the spine, this bone was near the 48th vertebra. The whole team went to work brushing sand away from this part of all the Basilosaurus that had been mapped so far. Soon they found, astonishingly, not only more hips and upper legs, but also lower leg bones, anklebones, and finally, one by one, the bones of three tiny toes. These were the first hind limbs and feet ever found with a fossil whale skeleton. Basilosaurus was a huge ocean-going whale, with retracted nostrils forming a blowhole halfway up its four-foot-long skull. Its body was equipped with legs, but they were too small to support the animal’s weight on land. Gingerich predicted that scientists would unearth many more missing links be-tween land and sea whales. He wasn’t disappointed. Some of the most important finds were yet to come. In the 1990s J. G. M. Thewissen and Gingerich discovered two whales that were almost as old as Pakicetus. Both had legs larger than Basilosaurus, even though the skeletons were only 10 to 12 feet long. One was named Ambulocetus natans (am-bue-low-SEA-tus-NAY-tans) and the other Rodhocetus kasranii (row-deh-SEA-tus-kaz-RAN-nee-eye). Like Pakicetus, both of these whales found their food in water and were good swimmers, but both still hitched their way ashore to rest and to give birth. Some crucial parts of the Rodhocetus skeleton were still missing. The hands, feet, and tail were poorly known. But Gingerich persevered, and eventually his team found
Rodhocetus, “the barely walking whale.”John Klausmeyer illustration.
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a complementary Rodhocetus skeleton with hands and feet intact. He named this one Rodhocetus balochistanensis (bah-low-CHIS-stan-en-sis), after the province in Pakistan where it was found. This discovery brought new surprises. The middle three fingers of each hand retained a tiny hoof. And the anklebones proved to be the kind that belonged only to hoofed mammals known as artiodactyls (arty-oh-DAK-tils). Artiodactyls include cows, goats, pigs, and hippos. Rodhocetus combined features of an aquatic whale with features of a hoofed mammal all in the same skeleton. Scientists doing DNA studies had already claimed that the whale’s closest liv-ing relatives were artiodactyls like the hippopotamus, and here was confirmation. The fossil record and DNA evidence were now saying the same thing. Rodhocetus was like an arrow pointing backward to a hoofed ancestor and forward to an ocean-dwelling dolphin. In this activity you’ll have a chance to meet Rodhocetus, the barely walking whale, excavate and sort some “fossils” of your own, and learn how to read bones like a pa-leontologist to understand the whale’s remarkable transition from land to sea.
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Virus and the Whale: Exploring Evolution in Creatures Small and Large
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PART ONESweet excavationDiscovering fossils is not like in the movies where whole skeletons of ancient critters magically reveal themselves in all their magnificence at the flick of a whiskbroom. The process is more like reassembling bits of roadkill that were buried millions of years ago and cemented into rock. Finding fossil bones is just the first step. The bones then have to be carefully dug up, and then packed and shipped back to the lab. There they are cleaned, studied, and assembled. It is slow work. Try your own hand at excavating some fossil “bones” and making sense of your finds. An exciting new discovery of “fossil pretzel bones” has arrived in your lab. Your job is to excavate, sort, and assemble the bones. Then see if you can assemble the parts well enough to identify what kind of pretzel creature these bones belong to.
Work with a partnerEach team will need: Pretzel Species sheet stiff paper or cardboard liquid glue
Either of two options:
1 Fossil Evidence Envelope pretzel broken into 3–4 pieces envelope
2 Cookie Fossil Rocks cookie dough baked with 3–4 pretzel pieces inside big nail or metal nail file
PREP NOTE: This activity can be done in either of the following two ways, depending on the amount of preparation time available:
Fossil Evidence Envelope: To prepare, break a pretzel into about 3–4 parts and place the parts into an en-velope. For more challenge, add extra pretzel parts, remove some, or try work-ing with several shapes of pretzels and mix the parts.
Cookie Fossil Rocks:To make each cookie fossil rock, mix pretzel pieces with enough cookie dough to contain them. Bake according to cookie directions. Hard, dry cookies will be difficult to excavate.
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1 Making Sense of Fossils a Look at the Pretzel Species sheet of some known species of the pretzel
family to get familiar with their body forms. Open your “fossil evidence envelope” or excavate your “cookie fossil rocks” with a tool like a metal nail file. Lay out the pretzel parts.
b You may or may not have parts for a whole animal, but what you do have represents ONE species. Some of the parts may have been eaten by scaven-gers or gotten lost. Assemble the parts in a way that makes sense, using the shapes on the Pretzel Species sheet to help you sort and assemble.
c When you have assembled the parts of the pretzel animal, glue them to a sheet of paper.
d If you don’t have a whole animal, draw in what you think are the missing parts.
2 Consider This Does your pretzel look like one of the known
species or is it a new variety? Describe how your fossil finds compare to the ones on the Pretzel Species sheet.
When scientists discover a new kind of animal, they have the honor of naming the new species. If you think your pretzel bones belong to a new and different pretzel species, make up a name, and write it here.
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Virus and the Whale: Exploring Evolution in Creatures Small and Large
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Pretzel Species: These are some members of the Pretzel Family
Pretzel cubicus Pretzel normalist
Pretzel giganticusPretzel stickia
Lind
a Al
lison
illu
stra
tion.
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Whales: Walking Into the Past
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PART TWORead some bonesWhen Philip Gingerich found the mystery bones in Pakistan, he knew they were not the bones of a modern animal. Gingerich knew he was digging in a layer of rocks that was about 47 million years old, which gave him a good estimate of about how old the bones were. He also knew from studying the rocks that the bones had been de-posited near a shallow sea. He took the bones back to his lab and after many months of painstaking work, his team cleaned and assembled the skeleton of the animal he named Rodhocetus. Even if a bone was buried for millions of years, a paleontologist can study a fossil bone and learn many things about the animal it came from. By comparing the shapes of fossil bones to modern bones, a lot can be learned about how the fossil animal might have lived and worked.
Work with a partner Each team will need: One Mystery Fossil Bones card (cut separate cards for Fore Limbs, Hind Limbs,
Skull & Teeth, OR Spine, Neck, & Ribs) One matching Some Known Bones sheet (Fore Limbs, Hind Limbs, Skull &
Teeth, OR Spine, Neck, & Ribs) One Sum It Up sheet (Fore Limbs & Hind Limbs OR Skull & Spine) Scissors
1 Bone Reading Study some pictures of mystery fossil bones excavated by Dr. Gingerich in Paki-
stan. See how much information you can “read” from these mystery fossil bones by comparing them to the bones of some modern animals alive today.
Every team should get a Mystery Fossil Bone card and the matching Some Known Bones sheet. Complete the questions in the challenge section of the Some Known Bones sheet.
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Virus and the Whale: Exploring Evolution in Creatures Small and Large
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MYS
TERY
FO
SSIL
BO
NES
: SKU
LL &
TEE
TH
MYS
TERY
FO
SSIL
BO
NES
: HIN
D L
IMBS
MYS
TERY
FO
SSIL
BO
NES
: SPI
NE,
NEC
K, &
RIB
S
MYS
TERY
FO
SSIL
BO
NES
: FO
RE L
IMBS
Lind
a Al
lison
illu
stra
tion.
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Whales: Walking Into the Past
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DO
LPH
IN (S
WIM
MER
)
WO
LF (R
UN
NER
)
MO
NKE
Y (C
LIM
BER)
N
ostr
ils o
n to
p of
sku
ll
Eyes
pos
itio
ned
on t
he s
ides
CHA
LLE
NG
E:
FIN
D
THE
MO
DER
N
SKU
LL
AN
D T
EETH
MO
ST L
IKE
THE
MYS
TERY
FO
SSIL
BO
NES
.
1. Ge
t th
e ca
rd “
Mys
tery
Fos
sil
Bone
s: S
kull
and
Teet
h.”
2. C
ompa
re t
he m
yste
ry s
kull
and
teet
h to
the
bon
es o
f m
oder
n an
imal
s sh
own
on t
his
page
.
3. W
hich
sku
ll an
d te
eth
do y
ou
thin
k ar
e m
ost
like
the
Mys
tery
Fo
ssil
Bone
s?
____
____
____
____
____
____
4. L
ist
the
clue
s th
at h
elpe
d yo
u de
cide
:
____
____
____
____
____
____
____
____
____
____
____
____
____
____
____
____
____
____
____
____
____
____
____
____
5. B
ased
on
the
bone
clu
es, w
hat
type
of
crit
ter
did
the
Mys
tery
Fo
ssil
Bone
s be
long
to?
____
____
____
____
____
____
____
____
____
____
____
____
____
____
____
____
____
____
An a
nim
al‛s
skul
l ac
ts li
ke a
har
d ha
t to
prot
ect i
ts b
rain
. Sh
arp
teet
h ar
e su
ited
for t
earin
g in
to fl
esh;
fl at
teet
h ar
e be
tter
for
grin
ding
plan
t foo
ds.
Anim
als w
ith la
rge
eye
sock
ets p
oint
ing
ahea
d ha
ve g
ood
forw
ard
visio
n wh
ile
eyes
to th
e sid
es a
re b
ette
r for
seei
ng a
ll ar
ound
.
W
olve
s us
e th
eir
forw
ard-
poin
ting
eye
s an
d no
se
for
hunt
ing.
Sha
rp t
eeth
sta
b an
d ho
ld p
rey.
Mon
keys
use
thei
r kee
n ey
es a
nd n
ose
for fi
ndi
ng f
ood.
Th
ey u
se t
heir
div
erse
tee
th t
o ea
t a
mix
ed d
iet.
D
olph
ins
brea
the
at t
he w
ater
‛s su
rfac
e fr
om
nost
rils
on
top
of t
heir
hea
d.
Not
e ho
w th
e sh
apes
of
the
bone
s gi
ve c
lues
to
an
anim
al‛s
lifes
tyle
. Pegg
ed t
eeth
g
rip
fi sh
Larg
e ey
es
in f
ront
Nos
trils
fron
t
Poin
ted
teet
hFl
at t
eeth
Larg
eey
es in
fro
ntSk
ull r
idge
an
chor
s st
rong
jaw
mus
cles
Bone
-cr
acki
ng
mol
ars
Shar
p te
eth
tear
mea
t
Nos
trils
fron
t
SKU
LL &
TEE
TH:
Som
e Kn
own
Bone
s
Lind
a Al
lison
illu
stra
tion.
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Virus and the Whale: Exploring Evolution in Creatures Small and Large
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ity
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FORE
LIM
BS: S
ome
Know
n Bo
nes
Sho
ulde
rjo
int
mov
esm
ainl
y fo
rwar
dan
d ba
ck
Com
pact
fe
et,
shor
t to
es
Long
leg
bone
s
Runs
on
tips
of
toes
DO
LPH
IN (S
WIM
MER
)
WO
LF (R
UN
NER
)
MO
NKE
Y (C
LIM
BER)
Ani
mal
s of
ten
use
thei
r fo
re li
mbs
or
fron
t le
gs f
or
spec
ializ
ed jo
bs li
ke d
iggi
ng, p
addl
ing,
and
gra
bbin
g,
Thei
r b
ack
legs
are
mai
nly
used
for
loco
mot
ion.
N
otic
e ho
w di
ffer
ent
anim
als
use
thei
r fo
re li
mbs
in
diff
eren
t wa
ys:
W
olve
s ru
n on
the
ir lo
ng le
gs a
nd c
ompa
ct f
eet.
St
rong
sho
ulde
rs s
uppo
rt t
heir
bod
y we
ight
.
M
onke
ys s
wing
thr
ough
tre
es w
ith
thei
r lo
ng
arm
s an
d gr
aspi
ng h
ands
.
Dol
phin
s sw
im u
sing
the
ir fl
ippe
rs a
s pa
ddle
s.
Not
e ho
w th
e sh
apes
of
the
bone
s gi
ve c
lues
to
an
anim
al‛s
lifes
tyle
.
CHA
LLE
NG
E:
FIN
D T
HE
MO
DER
N F
ORE
LI
MBS
MO
ST L
IKE
THE
MYS
TERY
FO
SSIL
BO
NES
.
1. Ge
t th
e ca
rd “M
yste
ry F
ossi
l Bo
nes:
For
e Li
mbs
.”
2. C
ompa
re t
he m
yste
ry f
ore
limbs
to
the
bone
s of
mod
ern
anim
als
show
n on
thi
s pa
ge.
3.
Whi
ch f
ore
limbs
do
you
thin
k ar
e m
ost
like
the
Mys
tery
Fos
sil
Bone
s?
____
____
____
____
____
____
_
4. L
ist
the
clue
s th
at h
elpe
d yo
u de
cide
:
____
____
____
____
____
____
_
____
____
____
____
____
____
_
____
____
____
____
____
____
_
____
____
____
____
____
____
_
5. B
ased
on
the
bone
clu
es, w
hat
type
of
crit
ter
did
the
Mys
tery
Fo
ssil
Bone
s be
long
to?
____
____
____
____
____
____
_
____
____
____
____
____
____
_
____
____
____
____
____
____
_
Lar
ge, s
tron
gsh
ould
ers
Shor
t, h
eavy
fo
re li
mbs
Flat
, sti
ff fl
ippe
rs
Stro
ng e
dge
of t
hefli
pper
cut
s in
to t
he w
ater
Larg
e sh
ould
ers
Opp
osab
le
thum
b Lo
ng
fore
lim
bs
Flex
ible
wri
st
Long
han
d an
d fin
gers
Lind
a Al
lison
illu
stra
tion.
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Whales: Walking Into the Past
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HIN
D L
IMBS
: Som
e Kn
own
Bone
s
CHA
LLE
NG
E:
FIN
D T
HE
MO
DER
N H
IND
LI
MBS
MO
ST L
IKE
THE
MYS
TERY
FO
SSIL
BO
NES
.
1. Ge
t th
e ca
rd “M
yste
ry F
ossi
l Bo
nes:
Hin
d Li
mbs
.”
2. C
ompa
re t
he m
yste
ry h
ind
limbs
to
the
bone
s of
mod
ern
anim
als
show
n on
thi
s pa
ge.
3.
Whi
ch h
ind
limbs
do
you
thin
k ar
e m
ost
like
the
Mys
tery
Fos
sil
Bone
s?
____
____
____
____
____
____
4. L
ist
the
clue
s th
at h
elpe
d yo
u de
cide
:
____
____
____
____
____
____
____
____
____
____
____
____
____
____
____
____
____
____
____
____
____
____
____
____
5. B
ased
on
the
bone
clu
es, w
hat
type
of
crit
ter
did
the
Mys
tery
Fo
ssil
Bone
s be
long
to?
____
____
____
____
____
____
____
____
____
____
____
____
____
____
____
____
____
____
DO
LPH
IN (S
WIM
MER
)
WO
LF (R
UN
NER
)
MO
NKE
Y (C
LIM
BER)
Ani
mal
s us
e th
eir
hind
lim
bs o
r le
gs m
ostl
y fo
r lo
-co
mot
ion.
The
ir f
ront
legs
are
oft
en u
sed
for
mor
e sp
ecia
lized
jobs
like
dig
ging
, pad
dlin
g, o
r gr
abbi
ng.
N
otic
e ho
w di
ffer
ent
anim
als
use
thei
r hi
nd li
mbs
:
Wol
ves
run
on t
heir
long
legs
and
com
pact
fee
t.
Stro
ng h
ips
supp
ort
thei
r bo
dy w
eigh
t.
M
onke
ys s
wing
thr
ough
tre
e br
anch
es w
ith
thei
r lo
ng le
gs a
nd g
rasp
ing
feet
.
D
olph
ins
swim
thr
ough
wat
er w
ith
thei
r
stre
amlin
ed b
odie
s. T
hey
lack
legs
.
Not
e ho
w th
e sh
apes
of
the
bone
s gi
ve c
lues
to
an
anim
al‛s
lifes
tyle
.
Stro
ng h
ip b
ones
Thum
bs
on f
eet
Long
flex
ible
to
es
Hip
join
t ha
sa
wide
ran
geof
mot
ion
Stro
ng,
weig
ht-
bear
ing
hips
Com
pact
feet
,sh
ort
toes
Hip
join
t m
oves
mai
nly
forw
ard
and
back
Long
leg
bone
s
Runs
on
tips
of
toes
Dol
phin
s ha
ve n
o hi
nd le
gs o
n th
e ou
tsid
e, b
ut
thei
r sk
elet
ons
have
tin
y, u
sele
ss le
g bo
nes
calle
d ve
stig
es.
v
esti
ge le
g bo
ne
Lind
a Al
lison
illu
stra
tion.
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Virus and the Whale: Exploring Evolution in Creatures Small and Large
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Activ
ity
177
An
anim
al‛s
spin
e ac
ts a
s a
rod
from
whi
ch t
he
othe
r bo
nes
are
hung
. It
is m
ade
of s
ecti
ons
calle
d ve
rteb
rae
that
for
m a
str
ong,
flex
ible
sup
port
and
pr
ovid
e an
chor
s fo
r th
e m
uscl
es. R
ibs
form
a c
age
to p
rote
ct h
eart
and
lung
s. N
otic
e ho
w di
ffer
ent
anim
als
use
the
spin
e in
dif
fere
nt w
ays:
W
olve
s us
e th
eir
long
nec
ks t
o m
ove
the
head
fo
r be
tter
sig
ht, s
mel
l, an
d he
arin
g.
Mon
keys
tra
vel t
hrou
gh t
rees
usi
ng t
heir
long
ta
ils f
or g
rabb
ing
and
bala
ncin
g. T
heir
flex
ible
ne
cks
aid
thei
r ke
en v
isio
n.
D
olph
ins
swim
usi
ng t
heir
pow
erfu
l tai
ls in
an
up
and
dow
n m
otio
n to
pus
h th
roug
h th
e wa
ter.
Not
e ho
w th
e sh
apes
of
the
bone
s gi
ve c
lues
to
an a
nim
al‛s
lifes
tyle
.
SPIN
E, N
ECK,
& R
IBS:
Som
e Kn
own
Bone
sCH
ALL
EN
GE
: FI
ND
TH
E M
OD
ERN
SPI
NE,
N
ECK
& RI
BS M
OST
LIK
E TH
E M
YSTE
RY F
OSS
IL B
ON
ES.
1. Ge
t th
e ca
rd “M
yste
ry F
ossi
l Bo
nes:
Spi
ne, N
eck,
& R
ibs.
”
2. C
ompa
re th
e m
yste
ry sp
ine,
ne
ck, &
ribs
to th
e bo
nes o
f m
oder
n an
imals
show
n on
this
page
.
3. W
hich
spi
ne, n
eck,
& r
ibs
do y
ou t
hink
are
mos
t lik
e th
e M
yste
ry F
ossi
l Bon
es?
____
____
____
____
____
____
4. L
ist
the
clue
s th
at h
elpe
d yo
u de
cide
:
____
____
____
____
____
____
____
____
____
____
____
____
____
____
____
____
____
____
____
____
____
____
____
____
5. B
ased
on
the
bone
clu
es, w
hat
type
of
crit
ter
did
the
Mys
tery
Fo
ssil
Bone
s be
long
to?
____
____
____
____
____
____
____
____
____
____
____
____
____
____
____
____
____
____
DO
LPH
IN (S
WIM
MER
)
WO
LF (R
UN
NER
)
Flex
ible
gr
aspi
ng tail
Long
flex
ible
nec
k
Long
ba
lanc
ing
tail
MO
NKE
Y (C
LIM
BER)
Str
eam
lined
bod
y sh
ape
Long
pow
erfu
l tai
l
Shor
t, s
tabl
e ne
ck
Long
flex
ible
nec
k
Dee
p na
rrow
che
st
Lind
a Al
lison
illu
stra
tion.
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Whales: Walking Into the Past
7Ac
tivity
178
2 Share Your Findings Scientists seldom find complete skeletons. To learn more, they often must share
information from other skeletons and from other dig sites.
a Partner with another group so Fore and Hind Limbs teams work together and Skull and Spine teams work together.
b Discuss your findings with partner group, and summarize them on one of the Sum It Up charts. See if you can come to an agreement about how your mystery animal moved, what it ate, and its habitat.
Sum It Up: Fore limbs and hind limbs
TEAMANALYSIS: Note your ideas about type of animal and its lifestyle
Fore Limbs
Hind Limbs
Both Teams Which of the three modern animals might have a body part similar to this?
Summarize:How mystery animal moved, what it ate, and its habitat
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Virus and the Whale: Exploring Evolution in Creatures Small and Large
7
Activ
ity
179
Sum It Up: Skull and spine
TEAMANALYSIS: Note your ideas about type of animal and its lifestyle
Skull & Teeth
Spine, Neck, & Ribs
Both Teams Which of the three modern animals might have a body part similar to this?
Summarize:How mystery animal moved, what it ate, and its habitat
3 Consider This Philip Gingerich named the mystery bones Rodhocetus, the barely walking whale.
This whale was found in an ancient shallow water habitat. After analyzing the bones, Dr. Gingerich believes that this animal lived both in and out of the water, and it was a meat eater that breathed air. How does your team’s conclusion agree or disagree with Gingerich’s analysis?
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Whales: Walking Into the Past
7Ac
tivity
180
PART THREECreature featuresWhen a new fossil skeleton is discovered, one of the first questions a scientist asks is what animal or family of animals it is similar to. Even a partial skeleton allows a pa-leontologist to identify features that match with other animals. By identifying similar features, scientists can sort which animals are closer relatives and where an animal fits into the overall scheme of living things. In the case of extinct animals, scientists can attempt to sort out if they are the ancestors of living animals, and how they evolved over time. Take the next few minutes to consider the assembled Rodhocetus skeleton. Com-pare it to the skeleton of a modern dolphin (a type of small whale) and a modern shark. These two aquatic animals are similar in size but belong to different families. Check out the creature’s features. Then decide if Rodhocetus is more closely related to a shark than to a dolphin.
Work with a partnerEach team will need: Creature Features: Comparing Anatomy sheet
1 Comparing Skeletons Compare the three skeletons on the Creature Features sheet.
Would you say the modern whale or the modern shark is a closer relative of Rodhocetus? List the clues you noticed that helped you decide.
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Virus and the Whale: Exploring Evolution in Creatures Small and Large
7
Activ
ity
181
RODH
OCE
TUS
SHA
RK
DO
LPH
IN
Lind
a Al
lison
illu
stra
tion.
Cre
ature
Feat
ure
s: C
om
pari
ng A
nato
my
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Whales: Walking Into the Past
7Ac
tivity
182
2 Consider This Dr. Gingerich’s original article about Rodhocetus did not include information
about its tail. At that time, no tail for the fossil had been discovered. Try to predict what kind of tail belongs on this ancient whale. Consider the informa-tion given below. Then draw the tail on the partial Rodhocetus skeleton on the Creature Features: Comparing Anatomy sheet. Explain why you think this is the likely tail for this animal.
Fish and sharks have a finned tail that propels them forward by moving in a side-to-side fashion. Dolphins, like all whales, have a fluked tail that moves in an up-and-down motion.
Lind
a Al
lison
illu
stra
tion.
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Virus and the Whale: Exploring Evolution in Creatures Small and Large
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ity
183
PART FOURBe a science reporterWrite a short news story about whales. Tell your readers about new fossil discover-ies from Pakistan that suggest whales are related to animals that once lived on land. Based on what you have learned, explain how you think a whale could have an ances-tor that lived on land.
P.S. Don’t forget the headline.
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