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September 7, 2008 12:42:53 AM CDT

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Earliest Whale Ancestor a Deer?

Posted Dec 20, 07 1:50 PM CST in Science & Health 

(Newser) – Quick: What's the the whale's earliest-known ancestor? Wrong. It may not have been Bambi, but it was a deer about the size of a domestic cat, the Guardian reports. Fossil hunters have named the small deer-like animal that waded in lagoons and munched on vegetation Indohyus. It lived 48 million years ago, and it's thought to be the "missing link"  between ancient land mammals and the likes of whales, dolphins, and porpoises.

Analysis of the near-complete skeleton—from rocks gathered 30 years ago in Kashmir— found Indohyus had a thick and heavy coating, common among modern wading animals, and teeth similar to aquatic animals. The first whales emerged about 50 million years ago, less than 10 million years after their ancestors completely transformed from four-legged land animals to ocean dwellers.

Source Guardian (UK)

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The deer-like Indohyus was a genus of extinct artiodactyl, an even-toed ungulate that waded in water until it evolved into a strictly aquatic creature.   (Wikimedia Commons)
Over time, whales lost their fur and limbs to become the purely oceanic mammals of today.   (Getty Images)
Distinct ear bone and teeth finds in the Indohyus imply a direct relation to modern whales.   (KRT Photos)
Fossils of the Indohyus, a small deer-like mammal that waded in lagoons and fed on vegetation, may provide the missing link between land-animals and cetaceans.   (Getty Images)
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