Prehistoric Whales

Evidence indicates that whales are over 50 million years old. The earliest whale fossils are over 40 million years old. People don't know why whales moved from land to water. One prehistoric whale is called Pakicetus. Pakicetus means Pakistan whale. The creature was named after the country its bones were found in. Pakicetus lived 50 million years ago, but it is similar in some ways to the whales of today. It has a streamline body and appears hairless. Its nostril is on the top of its head instead of on the snout. Pakicetus could live on land, but went into the water to eat. It had very little competition for food 50 million years ago. Even before Pakicetus, whales used to live on land all the time. This was about 60 million years ago. For whales to go into the water, nature had to change them a lot. It took millions of years for this to happen. Their blowholes had to move up to the top of their head. Their lungs had to disconnect from their mouth and connect to their lungs only. Their hind legs had to disappear. Their front legs had to change into flippers. Most of their hair had to disappear. These were very, very big changes. I couldn't imagine seeing a nice, cute, little furry whale living on land. Could you?

by Louisa