A WHALE OF 

 A STORY 



Unlike dinosaurs that "went 

 missing" some 65 million years ago, 

 whales tell a story of evolutionary 

 opportunism, Schneider says. "It's an 

 amazing story that couldn't have been 

 told until 20 or 30 years ago when 

 exploration in India and Pakistan turned 

 up fossils of Ambulocetus natans 

 (swimming walking whale), an early 

 ancestor of modern whales," he says. 

 Scientists determined that this amphibi- 

 ous species was the whale's intermedi- 

 ate evolutionary link. Not long after- 

 ward in Pakistan, scientists discovered 

 Rhodocetus kasrani, and labeled it the 

 "transitional whale" because its adapted, 

 flexible spinal column is suitable for 

 swimming like a whale. 



"Now we have nearly a complete 

 picture of almost all steps of its evolu- 

 tionary progression from being a land- 

 based mesonychid to becoming the 

 largest creature in the sea," Schneider 

 says, hinting at what is still to come as 

 we move toward a simulated prehistoric 

 aquarium filled with vaguely familiar 

 marine life. 



The underwater time tunnel 

 plunges us into North Carolina's Eocene 

 epoch ocean waters about 50 million 

 years ago. We catch a glimpse of an 

 adroitly swimming Zygorhiza kochi, an 

 early modern whale. Its flippers are the 

 remains of former front limbs, and lin- 

 like appendages are remnants of what 

 once were webbed hind feet. 



In geologic terms, Schneider notes, 

 the whale's transformation has been 

 relatively rapid. But this is not unusual 

 after a major extinction event. When 

 dinosaurs and large marine reptiles died 



FIELD WORK IS A COLLABORATIVE 

 EFFORT FOR DALE RUSSELL, LEFT, 

 AND VINCE SCHNEIDER. 



out at the end of the Cretaceous period, 

 other species filled their niche. Perhaps 

 mesonychids began to exploit the 

 opportunity to feed on fish in the sea and 

 thus began their adaptive evolutionary 

 journey to survival. 



In the underwater tunnel, we see 

 Zygorhiza chasing a school of pin fish in 

 blue-colored Eocene waters. Sea levels 

 are high, North Carolina's climate is 

 tropical and the current Coastal Plain is 

 under water, with the coastline reaching 

 well into Johnston County. 



Schneider has been gathering and 

 cataloging fossils from coastal sediments 

 for more than two decades. He worked 

 with exhibit fabricators to ensure that the 

 scene reflects the fossil record: a garden 

 ocean bottom complete with a myriad of 

 the Eocene burrowing organisms. 

 Mollusks, snails and a rich variety of 

 bryozoans, sea urchins, sponges, 

 brachiopods, scallops and oysters are 

 found in abundance in the Eocene Castle 

 Hayne Formation. 



Now, the sea water changes to a 



greenish color as we enter the Pliocene 

 epoch, dating back about 4 million 

 years. Fish species are similar to today's 

 catch: Bonita, tuna, marlin and hake 

 swim the deep waters, while sea robins, 

 puffers and spiney bun-fish dart about 

 closer to shore. 



We spot Carcharodon, a mega- 

 toothed ancestor of the great white 

 shark. The nutrient-rich waters attract 

 large populations of seals, and walrus 

 that navigate the deep sea. Ancient 

 whale bones now begin to litter a 

 sparsely populated hard bottom as their 

 modern descendents appear on the 

 evolutionary horizon. In this geologic 

 time, waves crash along a shoreline 

 roughly defined by 1-95. 



As we move toward modern times, 

 mastodons and horses roam the 

 savannas during the interglacial 

 Pleistocene epoch, about 2 million years 

 ago. Long leaf pines replace stands of 

 hardwood, and we see a giant ground 

 sloth hunting for food in a somewhat 

 cooler climate. 



24 SPRING 2000 



