New “Whale Evolution” theory reported in BBC News 7 July
2009. After observing two species of mouse deer in Asia jumping into water and swimming
submerged for several minutes biologists have suggested that this was the starting point for
ruminants (animals such as deer, sheep, goats and cows) to evolve into whales. The belief that
ruminants are the ancestors of whales was bolstered in 2007 when Hans Thewissen of the
Northeastern Ohio Universities College of Medicine found a fossil of a ruminant animal that looked
like a small deer, but “also had morphological features that showed it could be an ancestor of early
whales”. Researchers carrying out a biodiversity survey in northern Central Kalimantan Province
in Borneo, Indonesia, observed a deer swimming in a river for over an hour. Other researchers
have observed mouse deer in Sri Lanka remain in pond after escaping from a mongoose.
Zoologist Erik Meijaard commented: “The behaviour is interesting because it is unexpected. Deer
are supposed to walk on land and graze not swim underwater.”
ED. COM. Dogs and many other mammals also regularly jump into water and swim. Does that
mean they are on their way to becoming whales? According to the logic expounded by the
researchers above one of the editors of this newsletter has started to evolve into a whale after
jumping into a river and remaining there to escape a swarm of bees. Meanwhile, the deer were too
busy escaping from predators to read the biology textbook that says they aren’t supposed to swim
underwater. (Ref. fossils, wildlife, behavior)
Tree of Life Blog 