Dr. Mark D. Uhen will outline the origin of whales from their terrestrial ancestors, the artiodacyls. He will show how the behavior and anatomy of these disparate mammals changed from terrestrial omnivores to fully aquatic carnivores. He will also show how the modern toothed and baleen whales originated from their ancient ancesotrs.
Dr. Uhen is a Professor of Geology at George Mason University, and Chair of the Department of Atmospheric, Oceanic, and Earth Sciences. Dr. Uhen’s research focuses on the origin and evolution of cetaceans (whales and dolphins), major evolutionary transitions in general, functional morphology, use of stratigraphic data in phylogenetic analysis, and theoretical aspects of diversification. He has published many papers in scientific journals, contributed chapters to edited books, co-authored a book on the evolution of whales, and presented at numerous scientific conferences. Dr. Uhen is also a Research Associate at the United States National Museum of Natural History, and the Chair of the Executive Committee of the Paleobiology Database.
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Also visit the Paleobiology Database and the EarthLife Consortium.
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