Whales are first found in the fossil record approximately 52.5 million years ago (Mya) during
the early Eocene in Indo-Pakistan. Our knowledge of early and middle Eocene whales has …

During the course of amniote evolution, numerous taxa secondarily adapted to an aquatic
life. It appears that many of these taxa primitively display “pachyostosis,” an osseous …

A new, fully dated total-evidence phylogeny of baleen whales (Mysticeti) shows that
evolutionary phases correlate strongly with Caenozoic modernization of the oceans and …

Modern members of the mammalian order Cetacea (whales, dolphins and porpoises) are
obligate aquatic swimmers that are highly distinctive in morphology, lacking hair and hind …

Cetaceans (whales, dolphins, and porpoises) have fascinated and bewildered humans
throughout history. Their mammalian affinities have been long recognized, but exactly which …

The origin of baleen in mysticete whales represents a major transition in the phylogenetic
history of Cetacea. This key specialization, a keratinous sieve that enables filter-feeding …

A cladistic analysis of 54 extant and extinct cetacean taxa scored for 304 morphological
characters supports a monophyletic Odontoceti, Mysticeti, Autoceta, and Cetacea. Forcing a …

The fossil record demonstrates that mammals re‐entered the marine realm on at least seven
separate occasions. Five of these clades are still extant, whereas two are extinct. This review …

SINE (short interspersed element) insertion analysis elucidates contentious aspects in the
phylogeny of toothed whales and dolphins (Odontoceti), especially river dolphins. Here, we …

As the largest known vertebrates of all time, mysticetes depend on keratinous sieves called
baleen to capture enough small prey to sustain their enormous size [1]. The origins of …