Rodhocetus

Live image of Rodhocetus

• Pakistan ( Baluchistan )

• Rodhocetus kasranii Gingerich et al., 1994
• Rodhocetus balochistanensis Gingerich et al., 2001

Rodhocetus is an extinct representative of the ancestors of whales. He is one of the early forms which have characteristic features of land mammals and thus shows the evolutionary development of these animals from land to aquatic life. The first type found Rodhocetus kasranii pointed to a large, fused with the spine pool, hind legs and diversified teeth.

In the Rodhocetus later found balochistanensis also were found bones of the tarsus, which supported the hypothesis that the closer relationship to the ungulates and at the same time presented to the extinct carnivores Mesonychia in question. This type is seen today as a recognized proof of the relationship with the even-toed ungulates ( to which today's pigs and hippos belong ). The tarsal bones of the species show unique characteristics of this group of animals, while the ossicles clearly resemble those of the whales. The first fossils of this species were found in 2000 by Philip Gingerich in Balochistan (Pakistan ). Your age is estimated at 47 million years. From the same region derived fossils of Pakicetidae, which provide further facts about the evolution of whales.