Eocene evolution of whale hearing

@article{Nummela2004EoceneEO,
  title={Eocene evolution of whale hearing},
  author={Sirpa Nummela and J. G. M. Thewissen and Sunil Bajpai and S. Taseer Hussain and Kishore Kumar},
  journal={Nature},
  year={2004},
  volume={430},
  pages={776-778}
}
The origin of whales (order Cetacea) is one of the best-documented examples of macroevolutionary change in vertebrates. As the earliest whales became obligately marine, all of their organ systems adapted to the new environment. The fossil record indicates that this evolutionary transition took less than 15 million years, and that different organ systems followed different evolutionary trajectories. Here we document the evolutionary changes that took place in the sound transmission mechanism of… Expand
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The first steps of whale evolution are reviewed, i.e. the transition from a land mammal to obligate marine predators, documented by the Eocene cetacean families of the Indian subcontinent: Pakicetaceae, Ambulocetidae, Remingtonocet Families, Protocet families, and Basilosauridae, as well as their artiodactyl sister group, the Raoellidae. Expand
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Infrasonic and Ultrasonic Hearing Evolved after the Emergence of Modern Whales
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It is demonstrated that early cetaceans presented a cochlear functional pattern close to that of their terrestrial relatives, and that specialization for infrasonic or ultrasonic hearing in Mysticeti or Odontoceti, respectively, instead only occurred in fully aquatic whales, after the emergence of Neoceto (Mysticeti+OdontOCeti). Expand
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The diversification of cetaceans has been accompanied by pervasive molecular adaptations in both sets of genes, including several loci implicated in non-syndromic hearing loss (NSHL), and alongside these adaptive changes, increased evidence of pseudogenization of genes involved in cone-mediated vision in mysticetes and deep diving odontocetes. Expand
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Dental enamel microwear analysis of an early Eocene pakicetid, middle Eocene protocetids, and middle-to-late Eocene basilosaurids concludes that cetaceans were not primarily piscivorous, and that piscvory and carnivory evolved from a very diverse diet in Eocene archaeocetes that included various kinds of invertebrates and vertebrates. Expand
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