Whales evolved in three rapid phases, reveals largest study of its kind

Baleen whale skull - The diversity seen in whale skulls was achieved through three key periods of rapid evolution, reveals a new study led by researchers at UCL and the Natural History Museum. The study, published in Current Biology , gathered the most expansive 3D scan data set ever for Cetacea (whale) skulls spanning 88 living species (representing 95% of extant cetacean species) and 113 fossil species and covering 50 million years of evolution. Whales have a fascinating evolutionary history transitioning from being land-based to wholly aquatic in just eight million years. Specimens are well documented historically because their bodies are easily preserved in ocean sediment and their large size has made them much easier to find and recover for study. Lead author Dr Ellen Coombs (UCL Genetics, Evolution & Environment and Natural History Museum) said: "We've gathered the most expansive cranial data set for whales which exists on the planet. Our data came from both specimens of living species and fossilised whales, 32 of which are held in the Natural History Museum's collections. "In-fact the data used for the largest whale species, and animal, ever to have existed - the blue whale, came from Hope, the Museum's prized blue whale skeleton which hangs in Hintze Hall.