Are Whales Related To This Deer-Like Creature?

Is this a long-lost relative of whales, dolphins and porpoises? Professor Hans Thewissen of the Department of Anatomy at Northeastern Ohio Universities College of Medicine in Ohio, US thinks so.

The 48 million-year-old deer-like animal, Indonyus, shares certain anatomical features.

The structures of its skull and ear are similar to those of early whales, and like other animals that spend a lot of time in water, it had thickened bones that provided ballast to keep its feet anchored in shallow water.

"We've found the closest extinct relative to whales and it is closer than any living relative

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