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Ambulocetus (Latin ambulare "to walk" + cetus "whale") is a genus of early amphibious cetacean [a] from the Kuldana Formation in Pakistan, roughly 48 or 47 million years ago during the Early Eocene (Lutetian). It contains one species, Ambulocetus natans (Latin natans "swimming"), known solely from a near-complete skeleton.
One such “walking whale” is Ambulocetus (am-bew-lo-SEAT-us) natans, which lived about 49 million years ago in what is now northern Pakistan, in long-lost coastal shallow seas and brackish rivers.
Size: Ambulocetus is approximately 10 feet in length, based on a nearly complete skeleton of one individual. Anatomy: The name Ambulocetus means “walking whale,” thus it should not be surprising that this ancient whale looked very different from modern cetaceans.
Ambulocetus was a prehistoric mammal which lived approximately 50 million years ago during the Early Eocene Period. It was first discovered in 1993 by Johannes G.M. Thewissen and Sayed Taseer Hussai in Pakistan.
Isotopic analyses help us figure out the likely habitats of extinct whales like Ambulocetus. Whales that evolved after Ambulocetus (Kutchicetus, etc.) show even higher levels of saltwater oxygen isotopes, indicating that they lived in nearshore marine habitats and were able to drink saltwater as today’s whales can. These animals evolved ...
Ambulocetus, or the “walking whale,” was a strange-looking 10-foot-long cetacean from the Eocene Epoch some 45 million years ago that could both walk on land and swim proficiently. Ambulocetus is a transitional form, or what some people call a “missing link.”
Ambulocetidae is a family of early cetaceans from Pakistan. The genus Ambulocetus, after which the family is named, is by far the most complete and well-known ambulocetid genus due to the excavation of an 80% complete specimen of Ambulocetus natans. [2] The other two genera in the family, Gandakasia and Himalayacetus, are known only from teeth ...
Ambulocetus, which means "walking whale," is the name given to a creature that has been widely accepted as an ancestor of whales. It lived about 50 million years ago, during the early Eocene.
Ambulocetus natans means ‘walking whale that swims,” referring to its lifestyle both in water and on land. It probably swam by paddling with its legs and dived by tucking in its forelimbs and giving powerful kicks with its hind limbs, a distinctive way of moving in the water.
Ambulocetus. The 3 metre long Ambulocetus in its swimming posture. Its legs were strong enough that it could still walk on land. It lived in the Eocene period, roughly 50-49 million years ago. Roughly five million years after Pakicetus first evolved, Ambulocetus appears in the fossil record.