PAPPOCETUS (EARLY WHALE ANCESTOR) FOSSILS FOR SALE

Pappocetus is a genus of extinct protocetid cetacean. Protocetids are among the earliest examples of whale development during the time they were transitioning from land to sea. Fossil records indicate that they are Middle Eocene in age, existing after Pakicetus (earliest known whale) and prior to Zygorhiza (basilosaurid). Pappocetus was more whale-like in appearance than predecessors, featuring more a streamlined body with paddle-like forelegs and hindlimbs that were greatly reduced in size. Its robust teeth and root structures suggest that it was an aquatic carnivore, relying on smell and vision as its most important senses for hunting prey. It is unlikely that by this point Pappocetus had developed echolocation systems used by modern whales.