Modern baleen whales are unique as large-sized filter feeders, but their roles were
replicated much earlier by diverse marine reptiles of the Mesozoic. Here, we investigate …

Traditional wisdom holds that biotic recovery from the end-Permian extinction was slow and
gradual and was not complete until the Middle Triassic. Here, we report that the evolution of …

Ontogeny plays a key role in the evolution of organisms, as changes during the complex
processes of development can allow for new traits to arise. Identifying changes in …

The titanic baleen whales (Cetacea, Mysticeti) have a bizarre skull morphology, including an
elastic mandibular symphysis, which permits dynamic oral cavity expansion during bulk …

Baleen whales (Mysticeti) are the largest animals on Earth, thanks to their ability to filter
huge volumes of small prey from seawater. Mysticetes appeared during the Late Eocene …

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 …

Extant baleen whales (Mysticeti) have a deciduous foetal dentition, but are edentulous at
birth. Fossils reveal that the earliest mysticetes possessed an adult dentition. Aetiocetids, a …

Mesozoic marine reptiles and modern marine mammals are often considered ecological
analogs, but the extent of their similarity is largely unknown. Particularly important is the …

The origin of baleen whales (Mysticeti), the largest animals on Earth, is closely tied to their
signature filter-feeding strategy. Unlike their modern relatives, archaic whales possessed a …

Baleen whales (Mysticeti) have an extraordinary fossil record documenting the transition
from toothed raptorial taxa to modern species that bear baleen plates, keratinous bristles …