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Topic: Pakicetids

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	Pakicetids
		Pakicetids (formally known as Pakicetidae) are a family of extinct animals that are the earliest known cetaceans.
		While modern-day cetaceans are all water-dwelling animals such as whales and dolphins, the pakicetids pre-date the transition from land.
		The pakicetids were carnivorous land animals, but are presumed to be ancestors of modern whales because of peculiarities in the bones of the ear, peculiarities which have only been found in whales.
	www.ebroadcast.com.au /lookup/encyclopedia/pa/Pakicetids.html (180 words)

	Whale Tale Two
		Pakicetids, which existed in the early Eocene epoch, some 50 million years ago, are the earliest known cetaceans [whales, etc.].
		In the case of pakicetids, the absence of air sinuses insulating the ears, the firm fusion of the periotic to the surrounding bones, and the presence of a flat tympanic membrane suggest that reception of airborne sound is well developed, but are inconsistent with good underwater hearing.
		It is most likely that the specializations of the pakicetid middle ear are analogous to those of some subterranean mammals and are related to the reception of substrate-borne vibrations or sound when the head is in contact with the ground.
	www.ridgecrest.ca.us /~do_while/sage/v6i2f.htm (2666 words)

	Walking whales, nested hierarchies, and chimeras: do they exist?
		The pakicetids are an interesting set of chimeric creatures, consisting of an artiodactyl-like ankle and a somewhat true-cetacean-like inner ear residing in a body that is otherwise hardly distinguishable from that of a typical extinct land-dwelling artiodactyl!:
		Conversely, if pakicetids are to be accepted as the closest known relatives of cetaceans, as the ruling paradigm dictates, all of the foregoing rationalizations must be placed in reverse.
		Following the ‘pakicetids are cetaceans’ fallacy, the discovery of fish would lead to the false inference that fish are a type of mammal (by redefining ‘mammal’; so that it can include fish).
	www.answersingenesis.org /tj/v16/i1/chimeras.asp (6706 words)

	The Evolution of Whales, Adapted from National Geographic, November 2001
		Pakicetid fossils described in 2001 were important in determining what whales were related to.
		However, the skulls of pakicetids have an ear region that is highly unusual in shape, and only resembles that of modern and fossil whales.
		Although pakicetids were land mammals, it is clear that they are related to whales and dolphins based on a number of specializations of the ear, relating to hearing.
	www.edwardtbabinski.us /whales/evolution_of_whales (10771 words)

	BBC - h2g2 - Whale Evolution - The Fossil Evidence
		The earliest proto-whale that has been discovered is now Pakicetus, one of a group of creatures labeled the Pakicetids which lived around 52 million years ago.
		It is not known exactly how the Pakicetids lived, but they may have lived on the seashore, or hunted in rivers.
		Thus, Pakicetids are early Artiodactyls that retain aspects of their Mesonychid ancestry which modern Artiodactyls have since lost.
	www.bbc.co.uk /dna/h2g2/A1159733 (1690 words)

	Walking whales, nested hierarchies, and chimeras: do they exist? (Crevo: Whales evolution) (Site not responding. Last check: 2007-10-13)
		Note that, in contrast to the locomotion of the terrestrial pakicetids, that of the ambulocetids and rodhocetids is described as resembling the locomotion of modern sea lions, eared seals, and otters.
		Just because pakicetids have somewhat cetacean-like middle ears and cetartiodactyla-type double-pulleyed heel bones, this does not yet make them whalesand#8212;unless of course one is willing to entertain the most ludicrously-strained definition of a whale.
		Following the ‘pakicetids are cetaceans’ fallacy, the discovery of fish would lead to the false inference that fish are a type of mammal (by redefining mammal’; so that it can include fish).
	www.freerepublic.com /focus/f-bloggers/1392221/posts (8004 words)

	InfoHub - View Single Post - Ichthyolestes - An Ancestor of Whales
		The Pakicetids were land dwelling mammals that lived close to the Tethys Sea.
		Ichthyolestes and other pakicetids are discussed in an article titled Skeletons of terrestrial cetaceans and the relationship of whales to artiodactyls.
		The pakicetid sacrum consists of four solidly fused vertebrae and there is a strong sacro-iliac joint, as in land mammals and in amphibious whales, such as Ambulocetus and Kutchicetus, but unlike other cetaceans.
	www.infohub.com /forums/showpost.php?p=21761&postcount=1 (258 words)

	Skeletons of terrestrial cetaceans and the relationship of whales to artiodactyls : Nature
		Pakicetids are followed by ambulocetids in the cladogram, and modern cetaceans (toothed and baleen whales) are closely related to late Eocene basilosaurids and dorudontids
		The forearm of pakicetids is not transversely flattened.
		The cranial morphology of pakicetids is consistent with the evidence from the postcranium.
	www.nature.com /nature/journal/v413/n6853/full/413277a0.html (4441 words)

	Are Whales And Hippopotamuses Related?
		The ear of the pakicetid resembles that of the whale and the hippopotamus in such a way, supposedly, that an hereditary link becomes inexorable.
		We’re still left with a 10,000,000-year gap between whales and pakicetids, but that, presumably, is not as important.
		Now with the new pakicetid argument, the older arguments are merely dismissed out of hand.
	www.useless-knowledge.com /1234/06apr/article226.html (1073 words)

	Evolution Of Cetaceans - Dolphins and Whales Window
		The Pakicetids are the earliest known proto-whales; they lived in the early Eocene, around 52 million years ago.
		What links the Pakicetids to whales is the structure of their ears, which contain an adaptation to underwater hearing that is possessed only by whales.
		It seems that the Pakicetids were amphibious carnivores which, thanks to their remarkable ears, were able to hear better in the water than other aquatic mammals.
	dolphins.jump-gate.com /start_page/evolution_of_dolphins.shtml (713 words)

	The Emergence of Whales, Chp. 9
		For pakicetids, the tympanic membrane is folding, and the conical tympanic ligament forms, forced into that shape by the enlargement of the bulla, and the appearance of the conical apophysis.
		The presence of the involucrum in all cetaceans, including pakicetids, suggests that this is a major apomorphy of cetaceans.
		"Pakicetids have a crucial position in the phylogenetic transition from the terrestrial ungulate ancestry to fully aquatic whales." Some features of the ear region are the primitive characteristics of terrestrial mammals.
	www.tiac.net /~cri/2001/acker09.html (1194 words)

	Whale - Search View - MSN Encarta
		Partial skeletons found in Pakistan in 2000 dating from 47 million years ago may also provide a link between primitive hoofed mammals and cetaceans.
		These pakicetids lived on land and in the sea using webbed hind legs and were the size of wolves.
		They had a long snout, close-set eyes, a long, muscular tail, and ankle bones characteristic of cloven-hoofed animals as well as ear bones that are unique to the whale family, the first time that features of both types of animal had been found together.
	uk.encarta.msn.com /text_761565254__1/Whale.html (2416 words)

	CDNN Eco News :: Whales - Fossils Show How Whales Evolved to Hear Underwater
		These animals, known as pakicetids, were wolf-size terrestrial carnivores.
		Skull features give strong evidence that pakicetids were the ancestors of whales.
		New fossils reveal that pakicetids had ears similar to those of terrestrial mammals, however, and would have had very poor hearing underwater, according to Thewissen.
	www.cdnn.info /eco/e040811a/e040811a.html (946 words)

	The Black Vault Forums-viewtopic-Patent Secrecy
		The first whales (pakicetids) are known from lower Eocene rocks, that formed about 51 mya; the pakicetids are so similar to mesonychians that some were misidentified as belonging to that group.
		However, the teeth of pakicetids are more like those of whales from middle Eocene rocks, about 45 mya, than they are like the teeth of mesonychians.
		Pakicetids are found in nonmarine rocks and it is not clear how aquatic they were.
	www.bvalphaserver.com /ftopic-50246-next.html (2186 words)

	Science News: Hippo-Whale Link
		His group discovered fossils of pakicetids, 50 million-year-old terrestrial whales in the Kala Chitta Hills of Punjab.
		Pakicetids are considered to be the first cetaceans.They lived on land, and may have fed while wading in shallow streams.
		While both species have the legs and other features of land-dwelling even-toed ungulates, they also have unique ear bones of the kind seen in whales.
	www.accessexcellence.org /WN/SU/whale.html (840 words)

	The Emergence of Whales, Chp. 16
		Best to include pakicetids and sister group in Cetacea (this sentence is weird).
		If so, then "it is possible that the earliest cetaceans evolved sophisticated hearing by using their mandibles as a bony interface between substrate (soil or possibly water) and middle ear." Useful for footstep detection.
		Pakicetids from shallow freshwater deposits = terrestrial / amphibious mammals.
	home.tiac.net /~cri/2001/acker16.html (1458 words)

	Dispatches from the Culture Wars: Relpy to Gibbons, Take 4
		Pakicetids did not look like whales at all, and resembled land mammals.
		Their bones are unusually thick, possibly an adaptation to make the animal heavier counteracting the buoyancy of the water.
		The earliest are the Pakicetids, followed by the Ambulocetids.
	scienceblogs.com /dispatches/2005/08/relpy_to_gibbons_take_4.php (6978 words)

	[No title] (Site not responding. Last check: 2007-10-13)
		The four partial skeletons are from a group of animals called pakicetids.
		The two species were discovered by paleontologists from Pakistan and the U.S. The ealiest species, Pakicetus attocki, ran on land about 50 million years ago and was about the size of a wolf.
		About 3 million years later, the pakicetids had developed into a species called Rhodocetus balochistanensis.
	moray.ml.duke.edu /projects/hippos/Newsletter/news27.html (183 words)

	Creation Science Rebuttals, Creation Moments
		There is a sequence of animals showing progressive evolution, from a land animal to a whale.
		The first is pakicetids, around 52 million years ago.
		I'm sure many would point out that pakicetids is based on a single fossil skull.
	answersincreation.org /rebuttal/cm/2006/creation_moments_05162006.htm (370 words)

	Paleorama.com
		However, some argue that the many gaps in the fossil record that do exist are evidence that cuts against the theory of evolution.
		Specimens claimed to be transitional forms include pakicetids and various hominids, including proto-humans.
		In addition, the fossil record of the ancestors of the modern horse and zebra as mentioned above is considered one of the best examples of a clear transition between species.
	www.paleorama.com /fossils/transition.html (946 words)

	Khylov's Xanga Site
		Some features of the sense organs of pakicetids are also found in aquatic mammals, but they do not necessarily imply life in water.
		70, a picture of a pakicetid middle ear bone is pictured, along with the caption:
		"An evolutionary fingerprint, a middle-ear bone from a 50-million-year-old pakicetid - a member of the oldest known whale family - 'is beautifully intermediate,' says paleontologist Hans Thewissen.
	www.xanga.com /Khylov (2815 words)

	A new Eocene archaeocete (Mammalia, Cetacea) from India and the time of origin of whales -- Bajpai and Gingerich 95 ...
		Himalayacetus subathuensis is a new pakicetid archaeocete from the Subathu Formation of northern India.
		We report here a new pakicetid archaeocete from marine strata of the middle Subathu Formation of India.
		It is clearly a pakicetid because it lacks the enlarged
	www.pnas.org /cgi/content/full/95/26/15464 (3047 words)

	Scientific American: Whence Whales? (Site not responding. Last check: 2007-10-13)
		The remains include several skulls, snout fragments and a number of postcranial bones representing two species of primitive whales known as pakicetids: wolf-size Pakicetus attocki and fox-size Ichthyolestes pinfoldi.
		Detailed analyses of the skull and locomotor skeleton, the team reports, reveal adaptations characteristic of land-dwelling mammals.
		In fact, many features, such as long, slender limb bones, indicate that the pakicetids were built to run.
	www.sciam.com /print_version.cfm?articleID=000DF443-A772-1C75-9B81809EC588EF21 (1108 words)

	Palaeos Vertebrates 520.300 Cetartiodactyla: Artiodactyla
		Such marks are also known from the pakicetids -- and almost nowhere else.
		The same pattern is found in Georgiacetus, a Middle Eocene whale from North America.
		Characters: dental wear patterns as near-vertical gouges (as in Pakicetids?) [T+00].
	www.palaeos.com /Vertebrates/Units/520Cetartiodactyla/520.300.html (1632 words)

	Walking whales, nested hierarchies, and chimeras: do they exist? - Journal of Creation (TJ)
		While not strictly indicative of inferred ancestor-descendant relationships, each of the fossil organisms is supposed to be a ‘signpost’ indicative of the progressive appearance of ‘whaleness’.
		Ironically, were this true, it would only support the common scientific-creationist contention about the rarity of ‘transitional forms’:
		Following the ‘pakicetids are cetaceans’ fallacy, the discovery of fish would lead to the false inference that fish are a type of mammal (by redefining ‘mammal’ so that it can include fish).
	www.creationontheweb.com /content/view/1551 (6509 words)

	PBS Evolution Series
		The pakicetids, the first "intermediate," are true land mammals with a few potential aquatic features in their inner ears.
		The pakicetids and ambulocetids are all less than 10 feet long; the fully marine Basilosaurus are all over 50 feet in length.
		Even by evolutionary standards there isn't enough time between these species to evolve even this simple increase in length.
	www.leaderu.com /science/pbs_evolution.html (3243 words)

	The Panda's Thumb: Evolution of whale hearing unfolds in fossil record
		Here we document the evolutionary changes that took place in the sound transmission mechanism of the outer and middle ear in early whales.
		Sound transmission mechanisms change early on in whale evolution and pass through a stage (in pakicetids) in which hearing in both air and water is unsophisticated.
		This intermediate stage is soon abandoned and is replaced (in remingtonocetids and protocetids) by a sound transmission mechanism similar to that in modern toothed whales.
	www.pandasthumb.org /archives/2004/08/evolution_of_wh.html (1435 words)

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