Happy New Year everyone! this will be my first review for 2019!
Back in the late Eocene, the world’s oceans were a much warmer, shallower than they are today. If you took a stroll along the beach back then, you may think that you have stepped into some hidden tropical paradise somewhere in the tropical pacific.
When anatomist Richard Harlan was presented with the fossil remains of a huge marine creature in 1834, he thought it must have been a reptile like Plesiosaurus or Mosasaurus, and therefore bestowed upon it the name Basilosaurus, “king lizard.” But when Sir Richard Owen later examined the teeth, he noted their double-rooted nature, which is a signature of mammals.
Recently, a thought occurred to me. I’ve been reviewing ancient fauna for several years but, in spite of having a user name based on ancient cetacea, I have yet to review a fossil whale. Time to change that with none other than THE fossil whale. At least, what Yowie refer to as a fossil whale, Mammalodon.
If you’ve ever wanted to build a diorama with your megalodon toys, you’ve probably noticed that there aren’t many other Miocene sea monster toys to pair them up with, although luckily plenty of the fish, turtles, and invertebrates alive then were very similar to modern ones. Today’s review concerns a contemporary of the famous shark, but it’s a rendition that’s unlikely to do much to enhance your diorama.
In a last bid for survival, the smaller whale wrenches itself free from Requena’s grip and darts away, its mangled tail gushing thick clouds of red with each stroke. Requena immediately gives chase and in no time is closing in on her waning victim. Her jaws open.
Review and photographs by Loon, edited by Suspsy.
It may seem odd to think that whales are artiodactyls, or even-toed ungulates, the group of mammals that includes hippos, pigs, antelopes, deer, giraffes, sheep, goats, and cows. Obviously, modern whales don’t walk around on land, but, around 50 million years ago, their ancestors did.
