An illustration of German-born fossil collector Albert Koch's "Hydrarchos" as it appeared on display. From Fowler, O.S. 1846. The American Phrenological Journal and Miscellany, Vol. 8. New York: ...

For tens of millions of years, whales have been a part of the oceans. Because of this, it would be easy to believe that whales evolved from aquatic creatures as the oceans warmed and became more ...

In the heart of the Egyptian Desert, Wadi Al-Hitan, or “Valley of the Whales,” fossilised whale skeletons lie exposed beneath the sun. Their vertebrae stretch across the sand in long, curved lines, as ...

Ancient whales were not master divers like their modern descendents. Biologists have discovered signs of decompression syndrome – the bends – in several different whale fossils, a finding that could ...

Life around the ocean surface can appear strangely similar from a distance. A dorsal fin cuts through the water, a dark body rises briefly to breathe, and then disappears again. Dolphins, whales and ...