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Cetaceans Are Highly Derived Artiodactyls

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The Emergence of Whales

Part of the book series: Advances in Vertebrate Paleobiology ((AIVP,volume 1))

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Abstract

Cetaceans (whales, dolphins, and porpoises) form one of the most dramatically derived group of mammals and modern representatives are easily recognized by the telescoping of the skull, posterior movement of the narial openings, isolation of the earbones, shortening of the neck, loss of external hind limbs, reduction of the pelvic girdle, and addition of vertebrae (e.g., Barnes, 1984). These skeletal character states are among the most conspicuous features within a suite of transformations that cetaceans experienced in basically all of their biological systems during their adaptation to the aquatic environment.

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  1. Martine Bérubé & Per J. Palsbøll

    Present address: Evolutionary Genetics, Free University of Brussels (ULB), 1050, Brussels, Belgium

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Evolutionary Genetics, Free University of Brussels (ULB), 1050, Brussels, Belgium

    Michel C. Milinkovitch

  2. Department of Population Biology, Copenhagen University, Copenhagen Ø, DK-2100, Denmark

    Martine Bérubé

  3. Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of California, Irvine, Irvine, California, 92697-2525, USA

    Per J. Palsbøll

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  1. Michel C. Milinkovitch
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  1. Department of Anatomy, Northeastern Ohio Universities College of Medicine, Rootstown, Ohio, 44272, USA

    J. G. M. Thewissen

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Milinkovitch, M.C., Bérubé, M., Palsbøll, P.J. (1998). Cetaceans Are Highly Derived Artiodactyls. In: Thewissen, J.G.M. (eds) The Emergence of Whales. Advances in Vertebrate Paleobiology, vol 1. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4899-0159-0_4

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