Pakicetus

Skeletal reconstruction in the Royal Ontario Museum

• Pakistan

Pakicetus is an extinct genus of early representatives of the whales from the family of Pakicetidae. He was still quadruped and lived in the early Eocene in South Asia.

Features

Pakicetus reached about the size of a wolf and had four typical mammal limbs. The snout was elongated, the nostrils were located on the incisors, the eye sockets were high on the head. The arrangement of the cusps of the molars, the construction of the ear and the cranial cavity can already uniquely identify the affiliation to the whales. The limbs were slender, the construction of the ankle joint was similar to today's cloven-hoofed animals. Shoulder and pelvic girdle showed no specific adaptations to the aquatic life. However, a thickening of the bone reveals what may be served to reduce lift.

Ecology

Pakicetus lived in the Eocene some 50 million years ago in what is now Pakistan. From the fossil find suggests that the bones sank in shallow waters and that the climate was very hot and dry at the time. It is conceivable that Pakicetus has at least temporarily stopped in shallow water. He has fed on meat, but the teeth can no specific adjustments to the fishing recognize.

System

Pakicetus forms with the smaller, but otherwise similar finished buildings Ichthyolestes and Nalacetus the family of Pakicetidae, one of the oldest known better whales. The combination of whales and even-toed ungulate features in this family can draw conclusions on the outer classification of whales, see meaning of Pakicetidae for research.