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Pakicetus (55 mya)
Pakicetus is a genus of extinct terrestrial carnivorous mammal of the family Pakicetidae which was endemic to Pakistan from the Eocene. Most paleontologists regard it as a basal whale closely related to the direct ancestors of modern day whales. -
Ambulocetus (50 mya)
Ambulocetus was an early cetacean that could walk as well as swim. It is the only species classified under the genus Ambulocetus. Along with other members of Ambulocetidae, it is a transitional fossil that shows how whales evolved from land-living mammals. -
Rodhocetus (47 mya)
Rodhocetus is one of several extinct whale genera that possess land mammal characteristics, thus demonstrating the evolutionary transition from land to sea. -
Takracetus (45 Mya)
Takracetus was a primitive cetacean that lived approximately 45 million years ago. The type specimen was a partial skulll though the literature mentions a second more complete skeleton. -
Dorudon (37 mya)
Dorudon ("Spear-Tooth") was a genus of ancient cetacean that lived alongside Basilosaurus 41 to 33 million years ago, in the Eocene. They were about five meters (16 ft) long and were most likely carnivorous, feeding on small fish and mollusks. Dorudontines lived in warm seas around the world. Fossils have been found in North America, Egypt as well as Pakistan the eastern part of which bordered the ancient Tethys Sea. -
Basilosaurus (35 mya)
Basilosaurus ("King Lizard") is a genus of cetacean that lived 40 to 34 million years ago in the Late Eocene. Its fossilized remains were first discovered in the southern United States (Louisiana). The American fossils were initially believed to be some sort of reptile, hence the suffix -"saurus", but later found to be a marine mammal. Richard Owen wished to rename the creature Zeuglodon ("Yoked Tooth"), but, per taxonomic rules, the creature's first name remained permanent. Fossils from a -
Odontoceti
The toothed whales (systematic name Odontoceti) form a suborder of the cetaceans, including sperm whales, beaked whales, dolphins, and others. As the name suggests, the suborder is characterized by the presence of teeth rather than the baleen of other whales.
