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Originally published in Science Express on 19 September 2001 Science 21 September 2001: Vol. 293. no. 5538, pp. 2239 - 2242
DOI: 10.1126/science.1063902
Origin of Whales from Early Artiodactyls: Hands and Feet of Eocene Protocetidae from Pakistan
Philip D. Gingerich,1*Munir ul Haq,12Iyad S. Zalmout,1Intizar Hussain Khan,23M. Sadiq Malkani2
Partial skeletons of two new fossil whales, Artiocetus
clavis and Rodhocetus balochistanensis, are among the
oldest knownprotocetid archaeocetes. These came from early Lutetian
age (47million years ago) strata in eastern Balochistan Province,
Pakistan.Both have an astragalus and cuboid in the ankle with
characteristicsdiagnostic of artiodactyls; R. balochistanensis has virtuallycomplete fore- and hind limbs. The
new skeletons are importantin augmenting the diversity of early
Protocetidae, clarifyingthat Cetacea evolved from early Artiodactyla
rather than Mesonychiaand showing how early protocetids swam.
1 Department of Geological Sciences and Museum
of Paleontology, The University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI 48109-1079,
USA.
2 Geological Survey of Pakistan, Sariab Road,
Quetta, Pakistan.
3 Department of Earth Sciences,
University of New Hampshire, Durham, NH 03824-3589, USA.
*
To whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail:
gingeric{at}umich.edu
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(2004)
Journal of Paleontology
78, 39-44
Land-to-sea transition in early whales: evolution of Eocene Archaeoceti (Cetacea) in relation to skeletal proportions and locomotion of living semiaquatic mammals.
(2003)
Paleobiology
29, 429-454
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Mol. Biol. Evol.
19, 1656-1671
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Mammalian mitogenomic relationships and the root of the eutherian tree.
U. Arnason, J. A. Adegoke, K. Bodin, E. W. Born, Y. B. Esa, A. Gullberg, M. Nilsson, R. V. Short, X. Xu, and A. Janke (2002)
PNAS
99, 8151-8156
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A gene network model accounting for development and evolution of mammalian teeth.
Molecular and functional characterization of a urea transporter from the kidney of a short-finned pilot whale.
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Am J Physiol Regulatory Integrative Comp Physiol
282, R1490-R1500
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