Whales only recently evolved into giants when changing ice, oceans concentrated prey
Thursday, May 25, 2017 - 08:22
in Biology & Nature
A team of scientists have traced the evolution of whale size through more than 30 million years of history and found that very large whales appeared along several branches of the family tree about 2 to 3 million years ago. Increasing ice sheets in the Northern Hemisphere during this period likely altered the way whales' food was distributed in the oceans and enhanced the benefits of a large body size, the scientists say.