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Can giant ichthyosaur fossil shed light on whale development?

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At 246 million years ago, cymbospondylus youngorum was “the size of a large sperm whale.” The en-Permian extinction is considered the worst ever. Ow, the connection to whales?

Paleontologists believe the ichthyosaurs grew exponentially within several million years, and that their growth was due in part to a massive increase in its prey, which included ammonoids and eel-like conodonts. These species’ populations boomed after a mass extinction called the end-Permian Extinction. “That’s one way this study stands out, as it allowed us to explore and gain some additional insight into body size evolution within these groups of marine tetrapods,” said Dr. Jorge Velez-Juarbe, an associate curator of the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County.

Alexandra Larkin, “Large ocean fossil discovered in Nevada could hold key to aquatic evolution” at CBS News (December 23, 2021)

Really, the only connection is that youngorum is another life form that grew very large in a comparatively short period of time. Maybe a number of unrelated examples will point to a general rule but the story doesn’t shed light on the peculiar history of whales.

The paper is open access.

Comments
Natural history museum:
Whales are accomplished divers. The deepest whale dive recorded so far was made by a Cuvier's beaked whale. A 2014 study used satellite-linked tags to follow the dives of eight beaked whales off the southern California coast. The deepest recorded dive was 2,992 metres, breaking the record for diving mammals.
2,992 metres = 9816 ft how can a rational and educated 21st century person even consider, that such a feat evolved (or can evolve) by some blind unguided natural process, and was not designed with foresight ? In other words, Darwinists claim: go, dive deeper and deeper and one day you will reach a 10,000 ft mark ... and don't worry, your body will evolve simultaneously in many ways e.g., to grow in to an extreme size (you will be the biggest species on Earth, your original weight x 1,500,000 ), also your body will evolve to withstand the enormous hard to imagine pressure which destroys everything at that depth if not properly designed (with foresight), and, contrary to other mammals, you will not need to take a breath for 90 minutes etc ... Whatever evidence Darwinists for whale 'evolution' have, is wrong / misinterpretation ... that is for sure ... we have seen it so many times with Darwinists ... they are always wrong ... and in this case, it is so obvious ... it is even hard to comprehend, why well educated smart people would claim something so absurd ... i think, that whale evolution, is one of the most absurd stories i ever heard from Darwinists ... it is so absurd it hurts ... Darwinists even make feel guilty, that you don't buy this absurd story (developed by paleontologists!!!) ...that you are stupid because you are only an engineer and not a natural science graduate - a paleontologist, and that you don't know what 'their' evidence is, that you are not an expert in evolution etc ... What is wrong with this world ? PS: so one day, if you would like to design a submarine, ask a paleontologist ...martin_r
December 25, 2021
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They do realize modern whale doesn't eat anything bigger than a small fish, right?RavenT
December 25, 2021
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