currentsinbiology:How ancient whales lost their teeth—and turned into the world’s biggest living fil
currentsinbiology:How ancient whales lost their teeth—and turned into the world’s biggest living filters Blue whales and their cousins are the only creatures on Earth that catch their food using baleen, giant combs of keratin that filter millions of liters of water a day for their microscopic meals. But whales’ early ancestors had teeth, much like today’s killer whales, and scientists have struggled to explain how their feeding system evolved. Now, a rare fossil offers an answer: Ancient whales likely first lost their teeth and suctioned up their food, as salmon and some other fish do, then evolved baleen. -- source link
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