New discoveries are always being made in the field of science. New discoveries lead to new theories and hypothesis or reaffirm old theories. The new leads that are always being discovered in science rebuttal old controversies and create new controversies within the field. One current discovery gives more evidence for the theory of evolution.
A whale fossil that is approximately 49 million years old was recently found in the antarctic peninsula. This discovery is creating reform amongst the timeline of whales from quadrupeds to aquatic creatures.It is now believed that the whales evolved into their aquatic form much quicker than previously believed.
The discovery also leads to a discovery of other animals that where around during that period that the whale fed on. Bones of large spiny fish were found along with the whale's jaw bone. New innovations are always found in the field of science that create new questions as well as answering old questions.
Posted by Noelle Kellicker
http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2011/11/111116-antarctica-whales-oldest-evolution-animals-science/
This is a great topic in relation to what we just recently learned in class. The first thing I thought was, with this new discovery, a couple more gaps have been made in the whale's evolutionary timeline. As I was reading, I could see the last picture of the whale's evolution from the lecture slides in my mind's eye. Now, I wonder how long they thought it took the whale to evolve to that before this discovery. It may be that the environment had a big influence on natural selection for an aquatic form from the whale. Did the bones of prey found in the whale's jaw give any clue to what this whale's range was or what level of the water they lived in?
ReplyDeletePosted by Chelsea Van Thof
It seems like this fossil falls into the late end of the whale's evolutionary timeline- the picture of the creature shows that it had a tail and only two smallish front fins. I wonder if the killer whale is one of the older species of whale, since it still has huge predatory teeth like the proto-whale species had? I wonder if they are they simply a remnant of whale ancestors, or did killer whales re-evolve those teeth?
ReplyDeletePosted by Johanna Brophy
Isn't it so interesting that when a question is answered new questions always pop up. It is so interesting that you found something on this and we discussed this in class. I am surprises they found the whale in Antarctica. I wonder if the colder regions have better preservation since there would be less cooling and heating cycles. What were the boney fishes found in the whale?
ReplyDeletePosted by Caroline Adams
I agree that contradictions are always occurring in the fossil record. We are always finding new fossils which change our predictions on how a species was evolved. You say that the whale evolution might have happened sooner than we think. What do you mean by that, that it happened in only a couple hundred years?
ReplyDeletePosted by Nick Gast
This is just another piece of evidence for evolution! (In your faces critics!) Just when we think we might have finally figured something out in biology, a new discovery never fails to change everything. With this new discovery of the whale fossils, our phylogenetic trees become an even more accurate depiction of the timeline of our ancestors. I wonder if this new fossil can give scientists more insight as to why whales moved from a terrestrial environment to an aquatic one?
ReplyDeletePosted by Sara Corey
Yes I agree that new fossils discovered can and sometimes do contradict previous models of evolution explain for that species. My point is that gaps within the fossil record are sometimes given transitional forms that until that fossil is found doesn't always make sense. Or didn't evolve the way science had predicted.
ReplyDeleteBy: Andrew Ryan