were whales once big wolfs?

Question

some one told me that millions of years ago giant wolfs went in to the ocen and became wales i doubt it but i guess if bush could be pres of the us any thisg is possable.

Answer 1

Think about it. What do whales and wolves have physically in common? Don't be so gullible. Next time somebody tells you something so lame then ask them to prove it.

G.G.

Answer 2

Actually, yes. There is evidence that supports that whales evolved from a mammal that returned to sea that resembled large carniverous "wolves" that lived between 60 and 30-something million years ago. Phil Gingerich discovered a skull with the aspects of Creodonts, who were ancestors of the carnivora line. But they shared aspects with the Archaeocetes, who are the oldest of the confirmed ancestors of whales. They were called Pakicetus, and dated back to about 52 million years ago. They showed a transitional phase between the two branches.

Ambulocetus showed back legs clearly adapted to swimming with front legs that had hooves and small fingers. It was amphibious, and could get around on land and sea, kind of like a sea lion or otter. Rhodocetus was next evolutionarily, with a more adapted underwater ear reagon (like a sea cow or manitee) and shorter neck vertebrae, as water supports weight better and is an adaptation for swimming. This creature's legs were disengaged from the pelvic region however, and it was clearly aquatic-only. Basilosaurus was finally something that was clearly fully adapted to the water, with flippers for swimming and a long body. It still had hind legs though, vestigial and useless, that served no purpose for it. While these might not be the DIRECT ancestors of the whale, but instead sidebranches off the family that was eventually to become the whale, it provides good evidence for the evolutionary line.

This is a heavily, heavily simplified version that's meant only to clarify a possible line. It's not nearly as advanced as it could be, and simply a like of theory. But it's a simple enough answer to be understood more universally than referring to numbers of branches more scientifically and tracing every possible alternative.

Answer 3

Primitive whales evolved during the early Eocene period, at least 53 - 54 million years ago. Fossil remains indicate that whales evolved from hoofed land mammals - perhaps the shore-dwelling, hyena-like Mesonychid that started a returned, bit by bit, to the sea roughly 50 million years ago.

Another possible step in whale ancestry is the otter-like Ambulocetus, an extinct mammal the size of a sea lion, 10 feet (3 m) long and about 650 pounds. Its limbs allowed it to swim and could also support it on land. It had long, powerful jaws with shark-like teeth, a small brains, and a pelvis fused to its backbone (like land-dwelling mammals but unlike whales).

Answer 4

Possibly.... However new thories suggest otherwise.

Earliest ancestors
Before the recent discoveries in Pakistan, one popular theory of cetacean evolution was that whales were related to the mesonychids, an extinct order of carnivorous ungulates (hoofed animals), which looked rather like wolves with hooves. These animals possessed unusual triangular teeth that are similar to those of whales. For this reason, scientists had long believed that whales evolved from a form of mesonychid.

However, DNA analysis generated an alternative hypothesis. Whale DNA is more similar to that of the hippopotamids than to any other living animal. Therefore, a debate arose as to whether hippopotamuses (hippos) or mesonychids were the closest relatives of the whales.

The recent discovery of Pakicetus, the earliest proto-whale (see below) has helped to settle the debate. The skeletons of Pakicetus demonstrate that whales did not derive directly from mesonychids. Instead, they are a form of artiodactyl (another type of ungulate) that began to take to the water after the artiodactyl family split from the mesonychids. In other words, the proto-whales were early artiodactyls that retained aspects of their mesonychid ancestry (such as the triangular teeth) which modern artiodactyls have since lost. An interesting implication is that the earliest ancestors of all hoofed mammals were probably at least partly carnivorous or scavengers, today's artiodactyls and perissodactyls having switched to a plant diet later in their evolution. Whales, due to the readier availability of animal prey and their need for higher caloric content to live as marine endotherms, naturally retained their carnivorous diet, as did mesonychids, who were however out-competed by better-adapted animals like the Carnivora later on (mesonychids became specialized carnivores when the overall availability of large animal prey was still low; thus their adaptation was likely at a disadvantage when new forms had filled the gaps left by the dinosaurs).

There is evidence that Hippos are the closest relatives of the whale. Not only are hippos of artiodactyl origin, but also they share similar protein and amino acids, brain structure, and chambered digestive tracts with whales. Furthermore, there is molecular evidence suggesting that hippos and whales are more closely related than the hippos are to any other living species, including pigs. Yet, a new discovery suggests that the origins of whales and hippos are not directly related. The reason for the physical and genetic similarities between them is that hippos split off from the main Artiodactyl line shortly after the proto-whales did, and thus, like whales, hippos retain some characteristics of early Artiodactyls. Both hippos and whales are Artiodactyls that became adapted to life in the water, but they did so separately and evolved in quite different directions.

Answer 5

You are one who believes everything that you are told. You need to start reading for yourself and thinking for yourself.
The millions of year old earth is based on what most scientist see in the rock layers and formations and yet some scientist have proven that this process can occur in a 2 week period (Example: Mount Saint Helen eruption + 2 weeks= what looks the same as "millions of year old rock layers and formation).
Also, if wolves evolve into whales and ape into men would we not have seen that occuring in the last 100 years? Yet it has not occured.
Think for yourself and don't believe everything everyone tells you.

Answer 6

in science class i learned that whales were once dog like creatures that lived near water. over time they evolved into what they are today. There is proff that they used to have back legs, because there are tiny stubs of bone on its torso where the legs should be. They are just vestiges now. Also other proof is that, the spine of the whale moves up and down like a dogs, not side to side like a fish.

Answer 7

The evolution wouldn't have went that fast to make them whales. They would either still have feet or fur or they would have razor teeth. There really are no like physical characteristics.

Answer 8

No, Wales is a land mass, not a mammal.

Love the Bush comment!

Answer 9

Wolves never evolved into whales. Though the killer whales are known as the wolves of the sea..

Answer 10

Yes they were land mammals prior to going back into the ocean and like dolphins they have finger bones in their flippers.Saw it on Discovery Channel.