Gladys. 2006 Dec 04. Ch 8 and 9. <http://development.pharyngula.org/ch_8_and_91/>. Accessed 2008 Aug 29.

Posted on M00o93H7pQ09L8X1t49cHY01Z5j4TT91fGfr on Monday, December 04, 2006

Ch 8 and 9

Chapter 8 in the Zimmer book begins by talking about Frank Fish. Fish was a self proclaimed ecological physiologist/functional morphologist. His main objective was to study how warm-blooded animals adapted to life in the water. He began his research by studying muskrats. By carefully studying their swimming he was able to deduct how other mammals would swim with the body forms they have. Muskrats used their long tail to help propel them through the water. After Fish’s discoveries, Zimmer talks about Hans Thewissen and his hunt for the “middle man.” He was interested in finding the link between whales and terrestrial creatures. To do this he returned to Pakistan to pull out some more fossils. On his second trip he found what he was looking for but unfortunately, he was out of money. He was forced to leave some of his most exciting findings, mainly the leg bones of Ambulocetus, in Pakistan. His mentor Gingerich was finally able to bring the bones back more than a year later. The two men worked on the bones and published at almost the same time.
Chapter 9 in Zimmer begins be talking about the great variety of species that arose after the extinction of the dinosaurs. With the number of fossils the researchers found, it was difficult to age the bones appropriately. They thought the could put them in the right order, but sometimes it is more confusing than that. Zimmer then begins to describe the Dorudon. This was a contemporary of Basilosaurus. They are described as decent swimmers with legs and toes and and small head with a long neck. The evolution of whales into what we recognize today too much longer than it did for the whales to “enter” the water. The evolution of baleen whales is not yet completely understood. Next Zimmer gives a short review about DNA and how it is read into evolution and then writes about human evolution and our relation to primates. He also reminds us not to be too focused on our own evolution, because terrestrial mammals are not necessarily superior.