The Emergence of Whales

1. Front Matter

   Pages i-xiii

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2. Synopsis of the Earliest Cetaceans

   • Ellen M. Williams

   Pages 1-28

3. Middle to Late Eocene Basilosaurines and Dorudontines

   • Mark D. Uhen

   Pages 29-61

4. Molecular Evidence for the Phylogenetic Affinities of Cetacea

   • John Gatesy

   Pages 63-111

5. Cetaceans Are Highly Derived Artiodactyls

   • Michel C. Milinkovitch, Martine Bérubé, Per J. Palsbøll

   Pages 113-131

6. Phylogenetic and Morphometric Reassessment of the Dental Evidence for a Mesonychian and Cetacean Clade

   • Maureen A. O’Leary

   Pages 133-161

7. Relationships of Cetacea to Terrestrial Ungulates and the Evolution of Cranial Vasculature in Cete

   • Jonathan H. Geisler, Zhexi Luo

   Pages 163-212

8. Middle Eocene Cetaceans from the Harudi and Subathu Formations of India

   • Sunil Bajpai, J. G. M. Thewissen

   Pages 213-233

9. Postcranial Osteology of the North American Middle Eocene Protocetid Georgiacetus

   • Richard C. Hulbert Jr.

   Pages 235-267

10. Homology and Transformation of Cetacean Ectotympanic Structures

    • Zhexi Luo

    Pages 269-301

11. Biomechanical Perspective on the Origin of Cetacean Flukes

    • Frank E. Fish

    Pages 303-324

12. Implications of Vertebral Morphology for Locomotor Evolution in Early Cetacea

    • Emily A. Buchholtz

    Pages 325-351

13. Structural Adaptations of Early Archaeocete Long Bones

    • Sandra I. Madar

    Pages 353-378

14. Evolution of Thermoregulatory Function in Cetacean Reproductive Systems

    • D. Ann Pabst, Sentiel A. Rommel, William A. McLellan

    Pages 379-397

15. Isotopic Approaches to Understanding the Terrestrial-to-Marine Transition of the Earliest Cetaceans

    • Lois J. Roe, J. G. M. Thewissen, Jay Quade, James R. O’Neil, Sunil Bajpai, Ashok Sahni et al.

    Pages 399-422

16. Paleobiological Perspectives on Mesonychia, Archaeoceti, and the Origin of Whales

    • Philip D. Gingerich

    Pages 423-449

17. Cetacean Origins

    • J. G. M. Thewissen

    Pages 451-464

18. Back Matter

    Pages 465-477

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Research in whale origins is now in an explosive phase, with a cascade of discoveries adding to our understanding of the evolutionary pattern and a suite of new techniques being applied to address new questions. The objective of this volume is to provide a snapshot of this explosion. The volume paints the scene with a broad brush. Taken together the chapters clearly indicate that cetacean origins is a field that is dynamic, multidisciplinary, and that the end of the explosive phase is not in sight.

• Adaptation
• evolution
• fish
• the origin

`....it offers important anatomical vignettes such as those relating to hearing and swimming. All told, the contributors have created an extremely data-rich volume from which scholars will glean knowledge for years to come.'
Science, 283 (1999)
`Up to now, a `state of the art' summary ... had not been available. This book admirably fills that void and should be added to the library of any serious mammalogist and paleomammalogist.'
Journal of Mammalogy, 80:4 (1999)
`The Emergence of Whales ends with excellent summaries about our knowledge to date of early whale evolution. The book is a very ggod source of informatiom on the early whales and is necessary reading for anyome involved in whale paleobiology and evolution.'
American Scientist, 87 (1999)

• Department of Anatomy, Northeastern Ohio Universities College of Medicine, Rootstown, USA

  J. G. M. Thewissen

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