Ambulocetus
Ambulocetus
Ambulocetus
Ambulocetus (meaning walking whale) was an early crocodilians, adult Ambulocetus probably were ambush
cetacean with short limbs and large feet used for swim- predators that fed on larger shes, aquatic tetrapods and
ming. Along with other members of Ambulocetidae, it is possibly terrestrial animals near the water. In contrast to
a transitional fossil that shows how whales evolved from crocodilians, it may have chewed its prey but probably did
land-living mammals. While its name stems from the his- minimal food processing with its teeth.[3]
torical hypothesis that it was capable of walking on land, The short forelimbs of Ambulocetus had ve ngers on
more recent research suggests that it was fully aquatic like
each hand and its long hindlimbs had four toes on each
modern cetaceans.[1] foot. It had dense osteosclerotic limb bones, suggest-
ing it was well-adapted for living in water but moved
slowly, probably hunting as an ambush predator. Its pelvis
1 Description was attached to its spine, like land mammals and un-
like later whales.[4] Its powerful tail, which lacked a tail
uke,[4] was apparently used for locomotion, and it prob-
ably moved similar to a modern river otter. Pakicetids
and ambulocetids used their large feet and hind limbs for
propulsion; morphologically, the thigh and leg of Am-
bulocetus were shortened, but the feet stayed large; this
resulted in a reduction in lever arm but a retention of
a large propulsive surface, indicating that the hind limb
functioned as an oar. In later Eocene cetaceans, such as
the basilosaurids and remingtonocetids, the tail gained a
uke and became the dominating source of propulsion,
while the leg became more reduced and rudimentary.[5]
1.1 Size
Life reconstruction of Ambulocetus natans
1
2 6 EXTERNAL LINKS
Pakicetus
6 External links
Rodhocetus
Ambulocetus. BBC Nature.
Takracetus
Whale Origins. Thewissen Laboratory.
Kutchicetus
5 References
[1] Ando, K.; Fujiwara, S.-I. (2016). Farewell to life on
land thoracic strength as a new indicator to determine
paleoecology in secondary aquatic mammals. Journal
of Anatomy. 229 (6): 768777. PMID 27396988.
doi:10.1111/joa.12518.
7.2 Images
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