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370:, has questioned these conclusions, suggesting that the smaller skeleton could be a partially digested meal. Even if the small skeleton is a fetus, Thewissen writes that it may not have been preserved in its normal in-vivo position. Authors pointed out in the original article, however, that the fetal skull has no tooth marks.
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This species is medium-sized with a skeleton 2.6 metres (8.5 ft) in length and an estimated weight of 280 to 390 kilograms (620 to 860 lb). Males are slightly larger than females; of the two adult skeletons found, the one interpreted as male was about 12% larger than the one interpreted as
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was able to walk on land; however, the short legs and flat digits would've made walking difficult. Looking at the flattened finger and toe bones, scientists have come to the conclusion that
349:. The position of the fetus (head-first) suggests that the animal gave birth on land. Modern whales generally give birth tail first, while land mammals give birth head first. That the
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represents the transition of land mammals back to the oceans where these animals were living on the land-sea interface and going back and forth.
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470:"New protocetid whale from the middle eocene of pakistan: birth on land, precocial development, and sexual dimorphism"
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had webbed feet and was most likely amphibious. The teeth of the preserved fossils show similarity to the teeth of
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to modern toothed whales and other extinct cetaceans. The middle ear bones are also similar to those of
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should give birth on land is not so implausible because this whale is semiaquatic or amphibious.
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Gingerich PD, Ul-Haq M, von
Koenigswald W, Sanders WJ, Smith BH, Zalmout IS (2009).
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and
William A. McLellan (2009) Maiacetus: displaced fetus or last meal?
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345:. This represents the first description of a fetal skeleton of an
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595:"Fossil Spotlight: Meet Maiacetus, the Mother Whale"
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128:skeleton cast at Musee d'Histoire Naturelle,
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545:"Ancient Whale Relative Gave Birth on Land"
373:The hip bones were strong, suggesting that
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337:The genus contains a single species,
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527:"Earliest whales gave birth on land"
1349:. You can help Knowledge (XXG) by
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320:Adult female and fetal (in blue)
304:from the Habib Rahi Formation of
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1401:Fossil taxa described in 2009
495:10.1371/journal.pone.0004366
1406:Prehistoric cetacean genera
593:Perry, Jon (October 2014).
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1416:Prehistoric cetacean stubs
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137:Scientific classification
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1411:Extinct mammals of Asia
1345:-related article is a
444:Evolution of cetaceans
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296:("mother whale") is a
1311:Paleobiology Database
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486:2009PLoSO...4.4366G
436:Paleontology portal
397:and modern whales.
579:2012-03-07 at the
558:", 6 February 2009
550:2009-09-28 at the
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1341:This prehistoric
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1298:Open Tree of Life
1212:Taxon identifiers
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755:Remingtonocetidae
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364:, discoverer of
332:Life restoration
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29:Temporal range:
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16:Genus of mammals
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874:Makaracetinae
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863:Pontobasileus
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744:Himalayacetus
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55:
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39:
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31:Middle Eocene
26:
22:
19:
1396:Protocetidae
1351:expanding it
1340:
1219:
1170:
1163:
1156:
1149:
1142:Pachycetinae
1129:
1122:
1117:Basilosaurus
1115:
1095:
1088:
1081:
1074:
1067:
1060:
1053:
1046:
1041:Cynthiacetus
1039:
1032:
1025:
1018:Dorudontinae
992:
985:
978:
971:
964:
957:
950:
944:
943:
936:
929:
922:
917:Crenatocetus
915:
908:
903:Aegyptocetus
901:
894:Protocetinae
881:
861:
854:
849:Natchitochia
847:
842:Georgiacetus
840:
833:
826:
819:
803:Protocetidae
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783:
776:
771:Attockicetus
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677:Artiodactyla
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588:
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563:
540:
532:Science News
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522:
480:(2): e4366.
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394:Basilosaurus
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312:Paleobiology
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230:Protocetinae
217:Protocetidae
200:Infraorder:
194:Artiodactyla
125:
24:
18:
1244:Wikispecies
1172:Platyosphys
1124:Basiloterus
1090:Supayacetus
1069:Pontogeneus
1034:Chrysocetus
1027:Ancalecetus
973:Qaisracetus
959:Phiomicetus
952:Peregocetus
883:Makaracetus
785:Kutchicetus
730:Ambulocetus
687:Pakicetidae
640:Archaeocete
367:Ambulocetus
347:archaeocete
223:Subfamily:
1390:Categories
1158:Pachycetus
1151:Antaecetus
1083:Stromerius
1076:Saghacetus
1055:Masracetus
987:Takracetus
980:Rodhocetus
966:Protocetus
931:Gaviacetus
924:Dhedacetus
910:Artiocetus
856:Pappocetus
828:Babiacetus
778:Dalanistes
737:Gandakasia
665:Vertebrata
663:Subphylum
450:References
274:Gingerich
249:Gingerich
36:47.5
1250:Maiacetus
1220:Maiacetus
1165:Perucetus
1097:Zygorhiza
994:Togocetus
945:Maiacetus
938:Indocetus
821:Aegicetus
703:Nalacetus
696:Pakicetus
389:Maiacetus
379:Maiacetus
375:Maiacetus
360:However,
355:Maiacetus
351:Maiacetus
322:Maiacetus
300:of early
293:Maiacetus
244:Maiacetus
160:Kingdom:
154:Eukaryota
126:Maiacetus
25:Maiacetus
1343:cetacean
1264:10521640
1229:Wikidata
1195:Category
1062:Ocucajea
671:Mammalia
659:Chordata
653:Animalia
651:Kingdom
577:Archived
573:PLoS ONE
548:Archived
514:19194487
474:PLOS ONE
408:See also
401:female.
306:Pakistan
302:cetacean
278:, 2009 (
270:M. inuus
210:Family:
184:Mammalia
174:Chordata
170:Phylum:
164:Animalia
150:Domain:
130:Brussels
1303:4942562
1290:1474795
1277:4971334
1235:Q597988
1131:Eocetus
1048:Dorudon
657:Phylum
505:2629576
482:Bibcode
260:Species
236:Genus:
204:Cetacea
190:Order:
180:Class:
105:↓
1316:140883
675:Order
669:Class
512:
502:
276:et al.
253:, 2009
251:et al.
1285:IRMNG
343:fetus
298:genus
1347:stub
1272:GBIF
510:PMID
280:type
44:Preκ
1259:EoL
554:, "
500:PMC
490:doi
1392::
1313::
1300::
1287::
1274::
1261::
1246::
1231::
597:.
529:,
508:.
498:.
488:.
476:.
472:.
458:^
308:.
94:Pg
38:Ma
33:,
1378:e
1371:t
1364:v
1353:.
632:e
625:t
618:v
601:.
583:.
516:.
492::
484::
478:4
282:)
240:β
227:β
214:β
99:N
89:K
84:J
79:T
74:P
69:C
64:D
59:S
54:O
49:κ
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