Ancient skull shows early ‘baleen whale’ had teeth
Today’s baleen whales (Mysticetes) support their massive bodies by filtering huge volumes of small prey from seawater using comb-like baleen in their mouths much like a sieve.
But new evidence based on careful analysis of a 34-million-year-old whale skull from Antarctica–the second-oldest “baleen†whale ever found–suggests that early whales actually didn’t have baleen at all. Their mouths were equipped instead with well-developed gums and teeth, which they apparently used to bite large prey.
https://www.heritagedaily.com/2018/05/ancient-skull-shows-early-baleen-whale-had-teeth/119615
