Alfred the aetiocetid had teeth but needed a better way to capture his tiny prey. Credit: Carl Buell Baleen whales, such as the gigantic 30m-long blue whale, are the largest animals that have ever ...

Did you know whales evolved from a land-based animal into an ocean-going mammal? To explore the evidence, we need to look at the desert, which may seem strange when discussing whales. The ocean once ...

Call it an unfinished story, but with a plot that's a grabber. It's the tale of an ancient land mammal making its way back to the sea, becoming the forerunner of today's whales. In doing so, it lost ...

About 25 million years ago, the warm, shallow seas off the southern coast of Australia were home to a bountiful scene of ocean-dwelling creatures. “In these seas, there was this extraordinary ...

WELLINGTON, New Zealand - Long before whales were majestic, gentle giants, some of their prehistoric ancestors were tiny, weird and feral. A chance discovery of a 25 million-year-old fossil on an ...

With large eyes, razor sharp teeth and a compact body built for hunting, Janjucetus dullardi is nothing like the gentle giants we know today, but this newly discovered ancient whale is one of their ...

Deposited over millions of years, the whale necropolis is covered with deep-sea species, many of which are new to science.

Forbes contributors publish independent expert analyses and insights. I write about biodiversity and the hidden quirks of the natural world. Fossil records make one evolutionary pattern especially ...

BELOIT — Evidence that ancestors of today’s whales once walked on the land and how digital imaging technology can help unlock mysteries of the past were explored Saturday during the Roy Chapman ...