Land to Sea: Inner Ear Transitions in Whales

Cetacean Evolution (Whales, Dolphins, Porpoises)

Evidence Of Common Ancestry of Cetaceans and Certain Species of Land Mammals

by Edward T. Babinski

(Reviews of several creationist articles that deny such evidence exists.)

LAND TO SEA: INNER EAR TRANSITIONS IN WHALES
Image Source: Home Archive; based on an Image in Nature
Vestibular evidence for the evolution of aquatic behaviour in early cetaceans
by F. Spoor, S. Bajpai, S. T. Hussain, K. Kumar and J. G. M. Thewissen

Image Source: Home Archive; based on the photograph in National Geographic November 2001,"The Evolution of Whales"[The controversial earbone, as it was pictured on a fingertip.]

"A Tale of Two Earbones"
featuring comments by Hans Thewissen, Ph.D.
"Beautifully Intermediate" says Hans Thewissen, "It's structure helps answer how a land mammal's ear adapted to underwater sound." (pictured above) a middle ear bone from a 50-million year old Pakicetid. The bone shown in the picture comes from a paper in Nature 1996, or from Thewissen - Northeastern Ohio Universities ], and is an incus. - J.G.M. Hans Thewissen
Zimmer and Gingerich are talking about the tympanic. (below) Both are earbones, but they are different.

"One particularly baffling fossil was the back part of a 50-million-year-old skull. It was about the size of a coyote's and had a high ridge running like a mohawk over the top of its head, where muscles could attach and give the mammal a powerful bite. When Gingerich looked underneath the skull, he saw ear bones. They were two shells shaped like a pair of grapes and were anchored to the skull by bones in the shape of an S. For a paleontologist like Gingrich, these ear bones were a shock. Only the ear bones of whales have such a structure; no other vertebrate possesses them."
- Carl Zimmer

Thanks to Professor Hans Thewissen, Ph.D. for his insightful comments on the featured graphic above.

Answers in Genesis' Response on Evidence for Whale EvolutionDr. Sarfati's response to a simple request to examine the evidence of hind limb rudiments on modern day whales.

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Cetacean Evolution (Whales, Porpoises, Dolphins)
Photos of Vestigial Hind Limbs on Modern Day Whales