Whale Evolution

[Ultimatedinoking]

Oh, I never heard of it until now.

[SBell]

Whale skulls don't have them.

Are you talking about the tiny pits above the premolars? Or the. Large holes on the lower jaw, those are nerve openings.

I never said modern whales have them.

The tiny pits.

Thank you. I didn't think I'd need to clarify that whiskers didn't need gigantic fossae.

[Ultimatedinoking]

Whale skulls don't have them.

Are you talking about the tiny pits above the premolars? Or the. Large holes on the lower jaw, those are nerve openings.

I never said modern whales have them.

The tiny pits.

Thank you. I didn't think I'd need to clarify that whiskers didn't need gigantic fossae.

Well, you could have Been more specific.

[Yutyrannus]

Whale skulls don't have them.

Are you talking about the tiny pits above the premolars? Or the. Large holes on the lower jaw, those are nerve openings.

I never said modern whales have them.

The tiny pits.

Thank you. I didn't think I'd need to clarify that whiskers didn't need gigantic fossae.

Well, you could have Been more specific.

I would of thought that was obvious.

[Ultimatedinoking]

Whale skulls don't have them.

Are you talking about the tiny pits above the premolars? Or the. Large holes on the lower jaw, those are nerve openings.

I never said modern whales have them.

The tiny pits.

Thank you. I didn't think I'd need to clarify that whiskers didn't need gigantic fossae.

Well, you could have Been more specific.

I would of thought that was obvious.

All he said was they were behind the canine teeth.

[Yutyrannus]

Whale skulls don't have them.

Are you talking about the tiny pits above the premolars? Or the. Large holes on the lower jaw, those are nerve openings.

I never said modern whales have them.

The tiny pits.

Thank you. I didn't think I'd need to clarify that whiskers didn't need gigantic fossae.

Well, you could have Been more specific.

I would of thought that was obvious.

All he said was they were behind the canine teeth.

Well for one the holes on the jaw were much to large for whiskers.

Also
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vibrissae

[Ultimatedinoking]

Whale skulls don't have them.

Are you talking about the tiny pits above the premolars? Or the. Large holes on the lower jaw, those are nerve openings.

I never said modern whales have them.

The tiny pits.

Thank you. I didn't think I'd need to clarify that whiskers didn't need gigantic fossae.

Well, you could have Been more specific.

I would of thought that was obvious.

All he said was they were behind the canine teeth.

Well for one the holes on the jaw were much to large for whiskers.

Also
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vibrissae

I know, their nerve openings. But the way he worded it hade me confused. 

[SBell]

Whale skulls don't have them.

Are you talking about the tiny pits above the premolars? Or the. Large holes on the lower jaw, those are nerve openings.

I never said modern whales have them.

The tiny pits.

Thank you. I didn't think I'd need to clarify that whiskers didn't need gigantic fossae.

Well, you could have Been more specific.

I would of thought that was obvious.

All he said was they were behind the canine teeth.

Well for one the holes on the jaw were much to large for whiskers.

Also
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vibrissae

I know, their nerve openings. But the way he worded it hade me confused. 

I was going to be snarky but I'll leave it at this--if you knew that the large foramina (if you're going to play technical knowledge cards, use the technical terms) were too big for vibrissae, then perhaps you could assume I was aware of that as well. Especially given that I later double-posted (oops) that the small pits are often quite subtle, I clearly could not have meant big, obvious holes in the bones. Give some benefit of the doubt. It avoids needless conversations like this. Apparently I chose to be a little snarky after all. I shouldn't post after watching Sherlock.

Also, their=/=there=/=they're The sentence changes depending on which you mean!

[Ultimatedinoking]

 

Benefit of doubt? That's a paradox.

My mistake for believing you thought that sensory hairs emerged from dentary foramen. 

[tyrantqueen]

Also, their=/=there=/=they're The sentence changes depending on which you mean!

1+

[stargatedalek]

TBH at first I thought you had meant the foramen and was rather confused, but it didn't take me long to find the pits you meant

[Ultimatedinoking]

Should protowhales be drawn with tail tufts?

[stargatedalek]

tail tufts, could you explain further what you mean?

[Ultimatedinoking]

tail tufts, could you explain further what you mean?

You know, like lions or cattle. For that matter, when did flukes appear?

[stargatedalek]

I can't say for flukes, but I would assume tail tufts were lost as soon as if not before becoming primarily aquatic

[Balaur]

Yeah, probably no tail tufts. However, speaking of fur, I wouldn't be surprised if Ambulocetus had sea otter like fur.

Should we change the title of this thread to something like "Whale Evolution"? Because more stuff is coming in than just whiskers.

[stargatedalek]

perhaps "whale integument"

[Yutyrannus]

Done, it is now Whale Evolution.

Yeah, no tail tufts, probably not even on Pakicetus, but I do think most protowhales had fur up until maybe Protocetus.

As far as I know, Protocetus is the oldest known protowhale to have had a fluke.

[Yutyrannus]

I was wondering, how is it known that the hind flippers of Dorudon and Basilosaurus were visible in life?

[Yutyrannus]

Also, what is the first whale known to have had a melon?