CHAPTER XVI 
EXTINCT WHALES AND WOMBATS 
“ Tlie earth from her deep foundations unites with the celestial orbs that roll 
through boundless space, to declare the glory and show forth the praise of their 
common Author and Preserver; and the voice of Natural Religion accords 
harmoniously with the testimonies of Revelation, in ascribing the origin of the 
Universe to the will of One eternal and dominant Intelligence, the Almighty 
Lord and supreme First Cause of all things that subsist, ‘ the same yesterday, 
to-day, and for ever.’ ” — Dean Buckland. 
It would not be safe to venture any positive statement or opinion 
as to when the great cetacean order of mammals, which includes 
such creatures as whales, dolphins, and porpoises, first appeared 
on the earth. But as far as the geological record is known at 
present, it would seem as if they were ushered in at the com- 
mencement of the Tertiary era, at the same time with many other 
new forms of life. The original ancestor of all these marine 
mammals may, for all we know, have been evolved some time 
before then ; say in the Cretaceous period, or perhaps during that 
great and partly unknown interval between the Secondary and 
Tertiary eras. What we do know for certain is, that fossil 
evidence of their existence first comes to light in the Eocene strata 
of North America. 
The oldest known whale is the curious Zeuglodon, from the 
marine Eocene strata of Alabama. At Claiborne, according to 
Sir Charles Lyell, there occur numerous species of shells, besides 
many sea-urchins (echinoderms) and abundance of sharks’ teeth. 
But the most remarkable remains found there are those of the 
