Apologies for my absence, I have been finishing my final exams in order to graduate this upcoming weekend!
Cetaceans roam our oceans today as both immense predators and gentle giants. From the tiny Vaquita to the enormous Blue Whale (the largest animal currently known to inhabit our planet in all it's history) these marine mammals occupy some of the niches left open by the extinct sea-going reptiles of old. They began this journey some 50-55 million year ago as a terrestrial hoofed mammal no larger than a housecat.
What drove this return to the sea? What evidence do we have to support it? How could it occur so quickly?
This post aims to document the evolutionary transitions of cetaceans from their humble terrestrial beginnings to the majesty of the great organisms roaming our seas today, as well as examine the genetic and embryologic evidence for this journey. Finally, we will examine some of the qualms YEC sites have with the entire idea.
Key Sources:
Comparing Skeletal Structures (Excellent)
On Joint Transitions Specifically (Site is a bit messy)
Vestiges (Concise)
Genes Etc (Great)
Theistic Evolution Site (Informative)
Basic Wiki (For the Lazy)
Let's get started!
Part 1: Feet and Fins
As usual with these posts, we must identify what separates our "starting" species or genus from our "ending" species or genus. It is important to keep in mind that our classifications of organisms is an attempt to categorize a gradient of ever-changing forms; it's somewhat arbitrary. That said, these classifications serve to help us observe evolutionary trends.
Although first we must define some of the aspects of our modern cetacean's classification.
Modern cetaceans are apart of the order Artiodactyla, or, the even-toed ungulates. These are hoofed animals who bear weight on an even number of toes. But they have other defining characteristics, such as their scapula shape and unique joints (trochlear hinges) built for maintaining stability at high speeds.
The latter, is wh
... keep reading on reddit β‘
Did even toed undulate have five digits until they all started to evolve even toed digits? And if so when was the split where they technically were no longer even versus odd toed undulate?
Antelope canβt elope cantaloupe.
Jamie please pull up the two definitions for Joe and unfuck this
I havenβt played much outside Africa but my latest play through ended when I was stepped on by a hippo, he didnβt seem very frightened by my defensive posturing and called my bluff (probably didnβt help I was playing an exo build).
But this got me wondering as to whatβs the best ungulate build outside of Africa to play as?
It is clear at this point that it isn't CAE v. ELOE this year. It's the Plunderbirds vs. ELOE. The Plunderbirds are using the CAE as a shield to destroy ELOE and then steamroll the rest of us.
To counter the size of ELOE and the Plunderbirds, /r/UnionForFreeTeams has been created for GLOG, the Cats, and the Ungulates to oppose the ELOE and the Plunderbirds. I ask the Ungulates to lend their hooves to help in the fight against these two major powers. We can be the swing vote that this game desperately needs!
Hello! I was wondering if anyone has a good solution for helping out the easily stressed ungulates in this game? I have a few "Do Not Disturb" signs down, would more help? The animals are in enclosures that have overlook style viewing areas, so one way glass would not make any sense. There are two huge shelters in each and the animals do retreat beneath the viewing areas, but I still get spammed with stress notifications almost constantly.
It seems like Cats are hated for one reason or another without over analyzing the situation. Unfortunately it seems like everyone is voting on Panthers; and Jags left, leaving Bengals and Lions standing to represent the brotherhood.
Thoughts?
I'm searching for a book for a friend. It is about people with 4 toes. They lost the 5th due to reduced gravity. This is cos they're on a spaceship, not a planet as the all think they are. This is driving him nuts & you would earn my gratitude for helping him. Thanks team!
Apologies for my absence, I have been finishing my final exams in order to graduate this upcoming weekend!
Cetaceans roam our oceans today as both immense predators and gentle giants. From the tiny Vaquita to the enormous Blue Whale (the largest animal currently known to inhabit our planet in all it's history) these marine mammals occupy some of the niches left open by the extinct sea-going reptiles of old. They began this journey some 50-55 million year ago as a terrestrial hoofed mammal no larger than a housecat.
What drove this return to the sea? What evidence do we have to support it? How could it occur so quickly?
This post aims to document the evolutionary transitions of cetaceans from their humble terrestrial beginnings to the majesty of the great organisms roaming our seas today, as well as examine the genetic and embryologic evidence for this journey. Finally, we will examine some of the qualms YEC sites have with the entire idea.
Key Sources:
Comparing Skeletal Structures (Excellent)
On Joint Transitions Specifically (Site is a bit messy)
Vestiges (Concise)
Genes Etc (Great)
Theistic Evolution Site (Informative)
Basic Wiki (For the Lazy)
Let's get started!
Part 1: Feet and Fins
As usual with these posts, we must identify what separates our "starting" species or genus from our "ending" species or genus. It is important to keep in mind that our classifications of organisms is an attempt to categorize a gradient of ever-changing forms; it's somewhat arbitrary. That said, these classifications serve to help us observe evolutionary trends.
Although first we must define some of the aspects of our modern cetacean's classification.
Modern cetaceans are apart of the order Artiodactyla, or, the even-toed ungulates. These are hoofed animals who bear weight on an even number of toes. But they have other defining characteristics, such as their scapula shape and unique joints (trochlear hinges) built for maintaining stability at high speeds.
The latter, is wh
... keep reading on reddit β‘