Blue Whale Skeleton: Observations and Questions ANSWER KEY SH 8/08 Blue Whale Skeleton: Observations and Questions Form and Function: The blue whale is a mammal adapted to life in the open ocean.Compare its skeleton to your skeleton. However, how they traveled from South Asia to South America remains a mystery. Creative t-shirt.. Vector. This skeleton, dug out from the coastal desert Playa Media Luna, is the first indisputable record of a quadrupedal whale skeleton for the whole Pacific Ocean. The international team named this newly identified species Peregocetus pacificus, or “the traveling whale that reached the Pacific.”. In modern times, scientists still occasionally discover a living whale with the vestiges of small hindlimbs hiding inside its body wall. The fossil of an ancient, four-legged whale with hooves uncovered in Peru gives scientists new insights into the evolution of the aquatic mammals, research published Thursday suggests. They were able to recover most of its skeleton, including the jaw, legs, some of its spine and tail. Jupiter and Saturn will form the first "double planet" in 800 years, "Extraordinary" rate of change as the Arctic warms, NOAA says, China plants flag on the moon as spacecraft lifts off, California Privacy/Information We Collect. A whale skeleton estimated to be around 3,000 to 5,000 years old was found in Samut Sakhon, just west of Bangkok, about 12 kilometres inland from the coastline. museum, and looked at whale skeletons?..Have you noticed the vestigal hip and leg bones, completely detached from the rest of the skeleton. © 2019 CBS Interactive Inc. All Rights Reserved. Additionally, it’s the most complete skeleton found outside of India and Pakistan, and it is the oldest found yet in the Americas. 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Similar Images . The Natural Resources and Environment minister Varawut Silpa-archa says the bones resemble the Brydeâs whale. Lambert said, "This is the first indisputable record of a quadrupedal whale skeleton for the whole Pacific Ocean, probably the oldest for the Americas and the most complete outside India and Pakistan." Even the earliest fully aquatic whales still wore visual reminders of their past, little external hindlimbs that streamed behind them uselessly. Once settled in Pacific waters near Peru, they would eventually make their way to North America. The giant whale's legs and feet were small and useless for walking, but they represented an important link to its terrestrial ancestors. This was a whale that still had arms and legs, the firm attachment of the hips to the spine and flattened toe-tips indicating that Peregocetus was an amphibious creature capable of ⦠They had long skulls and large carnivorous teeth. 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