APART from being large, hairless mammals that live in water, hippos and whales appear to have little in common. But it now seems they both evolved from the same stock.
Molecular studies have indicated that cetaceans, which include whales, dolphins and porpoises, are closely related to hippos. However, recent morphological studies suggested another scenario – that whales are more closely related to the Mesonychidae, a group of extinct hoofed mammals, than living artiodactyls, which includes hippos, camels and pigs.
Now Jonathan Geisler of Georgia Southern University in Statesboro and Mark Uhen of Cranbrook Institute of Science in Michigan have done a…
