Pakicetus

Pakicetus inachus · Pakicetus was a wolf-like, semi-aquatic early whale that lived in South Asia about 48.5 million years ago.

It lived about 48.7 to 45.4 million years ago.

Pakicetus
Photo: Zerosmany, CC BY-SA 4.0
Pakicetus
Photo: Nobu Tamura (http://spinops.blogspot.com), CC BY 3.0
Pakicetus
Photo: SeismicShrimp, CC BY 4.0

Taxonomy

KingdomAnimalia
PhylumChordata
ClassMammalia
OrderArtiodactyla
FamilyPakicetidae
GenusPakicetus
SpeciesPakicetus inachus

Where its fossils were found

Northern Pakistan (Kuldana Formation) and northwestern India.

Fun facts

  • Unlike all later whales, Pakicetus had four fully functional long legs.
  • Pakicetus looked so unlike modern whales that its body shape resembled that of land-dwelling hoofed mammals.
  • The closest living non-whale relative of this early whale is the hippopotamus.
  • Scrapes on its teeth show Pakicetus ground its food as it chewed, and it likely ate fish and other small animals.

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Facts and taxonomy adapted from Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0).