What is the Evidence for Evolution?

What is the Evidence for Evolution

1 . The ancestry of whales has been studied by traditional paleontological methods , and by the newer tools of molecular biology such as DNA amplification and mapping . What kind of mammalian ancestry is thought to be the most probable for whales , and what evidence supports it

As backed up by scientific researches , wolf is said to be the mammalian ancestry of whale

Year 1978 signaled a milestone in the d of paleontology as Dr Philip Gingerich did a research on the relationship ' of early wolf

which dwelled in the part of Pakistan and whale . His idea sprung up as he observed the skull of the wolf and then he found an ear of a whale on it . It inspired him to conduct further research to support Charles Darwin 's most controversial claim - which stated that land mammals are actually the descendant of whales

A series of transitional fossils (popularly known as the missing links ) were found since Gingerich started his aim of connecting the link ' between wolf and whale . Among these transitional fossils are the 55-million-year-old mesonychid which lived on the land , the Rodhocetus which was said to be an aquatic animal but could also walk on land , and the Ambulocetus , a walking whale ' which also had the ability to swim

Aside from fossil evidences which explain the claim , there were also anatomical evidences which relate whales to mammals . The homologous structure of the front fin of whales is found to be quite similar with the front limbs of some mammals like sea lions , wolves and even humans More so , DNA sequences of whales are found to be similar with that of hippopotamus

2 . Has the ancestry of other marine animals been traced in a similar manner Yes . Aside from the claim relating whales with wolves , there are also claims that dolphins have characteristics similar to cows while Leopard seals in Australian waters came from bear-like animals

Reference

WGBH /NOVA Science Unit and Clear Blue Sky Productions (2001 . Evolution

EVIDENCE FOR EVOLUTION PAGE 0

Figure SEQ Figure \ ARABIC 1 Shown in the picture are three of the animals where the found transitional fossils came from : Mesonychid Ambulocetus , Rodhocetus , Basilosaurus...