Evolution of cetaceans
The evolution of cetaceans is thought to have proceeded in modern day Pakistan during the Eocene epoch (56–34 mya), the second epoch of the Paleogene period of the present-extending Cenozoic Era. Specifically, cetaceans are thought to have transitioned from land to water at the tailend of the Paleocene–Eocene transition about 56 Mya, which was marked by increased global temperatures of 5.6°C, warming the earth’s oceans. Cetaceans are fully aquatic mammals belonging to the order Artiodactyla. Molecular and morphological analyses suggest that they share a relatively recent closest common ancestor with hippopotamuses – their sister group, diverging about 55.5 Mya. Cetacea completely branched off from other artiodactyls around 50 mya. Research conducted in the late 1970s in Pakistan revealed several stages in the transition of cetaceans from land to sea. Being mammals, they surface to breathe air; they have five finger bones (even-toed) in their fins; they nurse their young; and, despite their...
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