They discover the fossil of a traveling ancestor of seals

2009/07/01 Elhuyar Zientzia Iturria: Elhuyar aldizkaria

• Eboluzioa
• Zoologia
• Paleontologia
• Arkeologia

Scientists of the Natural Muse of Canada have discovered in the Arctic the fossil of a seal ancestor, sea lion and walrus. The ancestor of the 23-million-year-old Pinípeds had palmate legs instead of fins and knew how to swim and walk.

Puijil darwin has been baptized as the newly found species. It is the most primitive pinion fossil known. According to the scientists, the finding in the Arctic may indicate that the origin of the evolution of pinipeds can be the Arctic, and not the western coast of North America, as previously thought.

The discovery gives an idea of the appearance of pinypeds before having fins. According to the researchers, it covers an important evolutionary vacuum.