Fossilized Whale Rib Bone 4.96\" (Cetacean) Bone Fossil Pliocene Cetacean Neogene For Sale

Formation:Yorktown (4.8-3.15 mya)
Size:4.96 Inches
Negatives: The rib is incomplete.
Positives: A great piece to add to your fossil variety. This belongs to a small cetacean, potentially a dolphin species.
Description of the animal:Cetaceans are a highly specialized group of fully aquatic placental mammals that includes whales, dolphins, and porpoises. Evolving from terrestrial artiodactyl ancestors over 50 million years ago, these streamlined creatures returned to the oceans, developing powerful flukes, dorsal fins, and flippers for efficient propulsion and steering while losing their hind limbs. They are divided into two main suborders: mysticetes (baleen whales), which filter vast quantities of small prey using keratin plates, and odontocetes (toothed whales), which rely on echolocation to hunt individual fish, squid, and marine mammals. As air-breathing mammals, cetaceans possess specialized blowholes on top of their heads for rapid surface respiration and exhibit remarkable physiological adaptations—such as collapsed rib cages, high myoglobin concentrations, and specialized circulatory shunts—that enable them to endure prolonged, deep-sea dives.
Stand Included