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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 . It contains one species, Ambulocetus natans (Latin natans "swimming"), known solely from a near-complete skeleton.
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 and mandibular fragments. [3]
Of the less than 10 fossils that have been described, one, Ambulocetus natans, is nearly complete and the main source of information concerning early cetacean evolution. The size of a male sea lion, it had a large head with a long snout and robust, strongly worn teeth.
Johannes Gerardus Marie (Hans) Thewissen is a Dutch-American paleontologist known for his significant contributions to the field of whale evolution.Thewissen's fieldwork has led to the discovery of key fossils that have shed light on the transition of whales from land to water, including the discovery of Ambulocetus, Pakicetus, Indohyus, and Kutchicetus.
Ambulocetus natans is a species of early amphibious archaeocete cetacean from the Early Eocene Kuldana Formation in Pakistan, 48 or 47 million years ago. It is among the most completely known Eocene cetaceans, vital to the study of cetacean evolution and the transition from land to sea.
A. natans is an abbreviation that may refer to: Ambulocetus natans, a fossil cetacean; Atractus natans, a snake; Aponogeton natans, a flowering plant; Alisma natans, now called Luronium natans, a flowering plant
During the Eocene, Pakistan was an island-continent off the coastal region of the Eurasian land mass and therefore an ideal habitat for the evolution and diversification of the Pakicetids. [ 3 ] Pakicetids have many apomorphic traits (derived traits shared by several taxa) found in artiodactyls , including: [ 1 ]
Skeleton of Ambulocetus natans, a stem whale. The traditional theory of cetacean evolution was that cetaceans were related to the mesonychian. These animals had unusual triangular teeth very similar to those of primitive cetaceans. This is why scientists long believed that cetaceans evolved from a form of mesonychian.