Cetaceans (whales, dolphins, and porpoises) have fascinated and bewildered humans
throughout history. Their mammalian affinities have been long recognized, but exactly which …

Studies have suggested that the proportions of the rostrum and mandible (from short and
broad to elongate and narrow) in toothed whales (odontocetes) may be associated with the …

All extant members of Phocoenidae (porpoises) have been characterized as pedomorphic
based on skeletal characters. To investigate the ontogenetic background for pedomorphosis …

Plesiosaurs are one of the longest-ranging tetrapod groups in the Mesozoic and underwent
a major adaptive radiation in the Late Triassic/Early Jurassic, so they are an ideal clade to …

Extant baleen whales (Mysticeti) share a distinct suite of extreme and unique adaptations to
perform bulk filter feeding, such as a long, arched skull, and mandible and the complete loss …

Skulls of living baleen whales show distinctive patterns of heterochronic ontogenetic change
with implications for mysticete evolution. Here, three baleen whale species are analysed …

The early Miocene is one of the least understood intervals in cetacean evolution. A new
early Miocene dolphin described here, Papahu taitapu, gen. et sp. nov.(family incertae …

In this paper we studied three related aspects of the ontogeny of the vertebral centrum of
cetaceans and terrestrial mammals in an evolutionary context. We determined patterns of …

Sperm whales (Physeteroidea) are the basal-most surviving lineage of odontocetes,
represented today by just three highly specialized, deep-diving suction feeders. By contrast …

Heterochronic changes in the rate or timing of development underpin many evolutionary
transformations. In particular, the onset and rate of bone development have been the focus …