In the last two million years, the earth has gone through many changes. Yet, many whales and dolphins have managed to survive it all. I’m talking ice ages, sea level rise, dramatic shifting of land masses and coastlines. Although, it does seem like it would be easier for fully aquatic animals to adjust to shifting… [read more]
Historical note on the northern elephant seal
One important fact that I didn’t have room to mention in my column on elephant seals is that they too were victims of exploitation, I’m talking major exploitation. According to the book Elephant Seals by Carole and Phil Adams, “by the end of the 1880s elephant seals were thought to be extinct, due to the… [read more]
Cetacean evolution: whale and dolphin ancient history
For obvious reasons it’s tough to find good photos or drawings of long gone ancient whales and dolphins, so instead I am using a drawing of several of today’s modern whales for this post. Scientists have concluded that whales, dolphins and porpoises have evolved from Archaeocetes, the name given to a group of ancient whales.… [read more]
California, Galapagos and Japanese sea lions
I have finally made it to the “C” section of the Encyclopedia of Marine Mammals! Wow, blogging my way through the encyclopedia is going to take awhile. And so the C’s begin with the California, Galapagos and Japanese sea lions. My impression is that they were all grouped together in the C’s because California sea… [read more]
Basilosaurids: the closest relatives of modern whales
The Encyclopedia of Marine Mammals has offered up another interesting tale, that of the basilosaurids, a now extinct family of whales. Like all ancient whales, basilosaurids are a type of archaeocetes, the common name for the oldest whales that now only exist in fossil form. (Check out my previous post on archaeocetes if you want… [read more]
Baiji: Yangtze River dolphin RIP
Drawing of the extinct Yangtze River dolphin The “B” section of the Encyclopedia of Marine Mammals has taken us to a very sad place. The baiji, also referred to as the Yangtze River dolphin, is extinct. Now this isn’t a prehistoric dolphin that died out thousands of years ago, this freshwater dolphin lived to see… [read more]
Archaeocetes: ancestors of the whales
Today’s whales, dolphins and porpoises can trace their ancestry to Archaeocetes, the name given to a group of prehistoric whales that lived 55 to 34 million years ago. However, these animals looked nothing like whales. Well I’m being overly dramatic; one looks kind of like a whale, but it not exactly. Based on the drawings… [read more]