Ambulocetus facts for kids
Quick facts for kids AmbulocetusTemporal range: Lower Eocene
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Ambulocetidae
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Ambulocetinae
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Ambulocetus
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| Ambulocetus natans Thewissen et al., 1996
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Ambulocetus ("walking whale") was an early amphibious cetacean. It could walk as well as swim. Ambulocetus natans lived from the early Eocene (50 to 48 million years ago). Its fossils have been found in Pakistan. When the animal was alive, Pakistan was a coastal region of India, which was then a large island in the Indian Ocean.
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Description
It looked like a 3-meter (10-foot) long mammalian crocodile. It was clearly amphibious: its back legs are better adapted for swimming than for walking on land, and it probably swam by undulating its back vertically, as otters and whales do.
Ambulocetids may have hunted like crocodiles, lurking in the shallows to snatch unsuspecting prey. Chemical analysis of its teeth shows that it was able to move between salt and fresh water. Ambulocetus did not have external ears. To detect prey on land, they may have lowered their heads to the ground and felt for vibrations.
Scientists consider Ambulocetus to be an early whale because it shares underwater adaptations with them. It had an adaptation in the nose that enabled it to swallow underwater, and its periotic bones had a structure like those of whales, enabling it to hear well underwater. In addition, its teeth are similar to those of early cetaceans.
One mostly complete specimen and several partial skeletons have been found in Pakistan.
Related pages
Images for kids
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Hans Thewissen with the holotype Ambulocetus skeleton
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Ambulocetus holotype display arranged in original positions they were found on the ground and swimming posture above, at Naturmuseum Senckenberg, Frankfurt
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Reconstructed skeletons of Ambulocetus (right) and the fully aquatic basilosaurid Cynthiacetus (left) at the Muséum national d'histoire naturelle, Paris
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Reconstructed Ambulocetus skull at the Museo storia naturale di Pisa
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Reconstructed Ambulocetus skeleton at the Canadian Museum of Nature, Ottawa
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Restoration of Ambulocetus
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Ambulocetus hindlimb at the Muséum national d'histoire naturelle, Paris
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Restoration of Ambulocetus
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Ambulocetus may have swum like otters (above: giant otter swimming at Tierpark Hagenbeck)
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Map of the Earth 50 million years ago around when Ambulocetus existed
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See also
In Spanish: Ambulocetus para niños
