Study says, early whale had leg

An early whale had large back legs, a tail like a dog's, and a hip-wiggling swimming style, according to a new fossil study.

The discovery helps pinpoint the advent of "modern" whale flukes to between 38 and 40 million years ago, scientists say.

Flukes are the two wide, flat triangular lobes on a whale's back end and are made of skin and connective tissue, with bones in the middle.

Scientists have known whales evolved from semiaquatic, four-footed creatures with long, thin tails to today's fully aquatic mammals with fluked tails, no back legs, and flippers instead of front legs. link

Giant whale found dead on SE China beach

The body of a giant sperm whale is seen on a beach near Songxia Port in Changle, East China's Fujian Province Jan. 15, 2008. The giant sperm whale which is measured 16 meters in length, 8.6 meters in diameter and weighed 20 tons, died after becoming stranded on a southeastern China beach Tuesday.

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Whale swim to amazon river

Residents of Brazil's Amazon River Basin try to help a minke whale reach deeper water on November 15, 2007, after it swam some 1,000 miles (1,600 kilometers) from the Atlantic Ocean up the Amazon River.

Sea creatures rarely venture so far into fresh water. Full story here.


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19th Century Bomb Found In Whale

Part of a 19th century bomb has been found inside a whale.

The fragment is part of a time delay bomb that was introduced in 1879 and manufactured until 1885, reports the BBC.

It suggests the bowhead whale may have swum its first strokes not long after the American Civil War.

Scientists say it is rare to find a whale over 100 years old but believe some may reach 200. Link





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