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Valley of the Whales

An Egyptian desert, once an ocean, holds the secret to one of evolution’s most remarkable transformations.

/2010/08/egyptian-whale/img/01-wadi-hitan-path-714.jpg /2010/08/egyptian-whale/img/whales-60-01.jpg Photograph by Richard Barnes http://national-geographic.cafepress.com/art/s_1320184 /2010/08/egyptian-whale/img/02-maicetus-714.jpg /2010/08/egyptian-whale/img/whales-60-02.jpg Photograph by Richard Barnes Maiacetus now stands in the basement of the University of Michigan Museum of Paleontology. With robust legs and webbed feet, it propelled itself on land like a sea lion. The limbs also provided thrust for swimming; its tail served mainly as a rudder. Later whales swam more efficiently with tail power; their hind legs dwindled, and their front legs morphed into flippers.]]> /2010/08/egyptian-whale/img/07-whale-jaws-left-714.jpg /2010/08/egyptian-whale/img/whales-60-07.jpg Photograph by Richard Barnes /2010/08/egyptian-whale/img/03-base-camp-714.jpg /2010/08/egyptian-whale/img/whales-60-03.jpg Photograph by Richard Barnes http://national-geographic.cafepress.com/art/s_1320195 /2010/08/egyptian-whale/img/04-replica-mold-714.jpg /2010/08/egyptian-whale/img/whales-60-04.jpg Photograph by Richard Barnes Basilosaurus skull. To create the cast, they covered the original fossil with several coats of flexible polyurethane, held in place by an outer shell of fiberglass. "Assembling the completed cast from the mold required six people working together, each person holding a piece—everything had to be perfectly synchronized," Sanders says.]]> /2010/08/egyptian-whale/img/05-ct-scan-714.jpg /2010/08/egyptian-whale/img/whales-60-05.jpg Photograph by Richard Barnes Basilosaurus bones, including this long, slender jaw, will be used for a digital model showing how the whale moved, swam—and chewed.]]> http://national-geographic.cafepress.com/art/s_1320183 /2010/08/egyptian-whale/img/08-fossil-whales-714.jpg /2010/08/egyptian-whale/img/whales-60-08.jpg Photograph by Richard Barnes Dorudon skeleton with University of Michigan postdoc Iyad Zalmout. The site's rare prehistoric whales helped earn it UNESCO World Heritage status.]]> /2010/08/egyptian-whale/img/09-casts-714.jpg /2010/08/egyptian-whale/img/whales-60-09.jpg Photograph by Richard Barnes Basilosaurus's fossil bones, shown here with ribs in the foreground, vertebrae behind. The white casts will be painted to match the rust-hued originals.]]> /2010/08/egyptian-whale/img/10-sand-sculpting-winds-714.jpg /2010/08/egyptian-whale/img/whales-60-10.jpg Photograph by Richard Barnes http://national-geographic.cafepress.com/art/s_1320186 /2010/08/egyptian-whale/img/11-struts-muscles-back-714.jpg /2010/08/egyptian-whale/img/whales-60-11.jpg Photograph by Richard Barnes Basilosaurus vertebrae secured huge muscles used to lift and lower the whale's tail and back as it swam.]]> /2010/08/egyptian-whale/img/14-sandstone-714.jpg /2010/08/egyptian-whale/img/whales-60-14.jpg Photograph by Richard Barnes http://national-geographic.cafepress.com/art/s_1320196 /2010/08/egyptian-whale/img/16-clues-714.jpg /2010/08/egyptian-whale/img/whales-60-16.jpg Photograph by Richard Barnes http://national-geographic.cafepress.com/art/s_1320185 /2010/08/egyptian-whale/img/15-nummulite-basin-714.jpg /2010/08/egyptian-whale/img/whales-60-15.jpg Photograph by Richard Barnes /2010/08/egyptian-whale/img/13-landscape-fossils-714.jpg /2010/08/egyptian-whale/img/whales-60-13.jpg Photograph by Richard Barnes Durodon is known as the Italian whale for the nationality of the scientist who discovered it.]]> http://national-geographic.cafepress.com/art/s_1320194 /2010/08/egyptian-whale/img/12-protruding-nose-714.jpg /2010/08/egyptian-whale/img/whales-60-12.jpg Photograph by Richard Barnes Basilosaurus was perfectly preserved by the rock that entombed it. This year it will return to Egypt to become the centerpiece of a new museum on whale evolution.]]> http://national-geographic.cafepress.com/art/s_1320187 /2010/08/egyptian-whale/img/06-hind-legs-whale-714.jpg /2010/08/egyptian-whale/img/whales-60-06.jpg Photograph by Richard Barnes Basilosaurus (left leg, above) were far too small to support the whale's massive 50-foot-long body. In fact, the creature never left the water. But the retention of legs is dramatic evidence that earlier whales once walked—and ran—on land. No one knows for sure how Basilosaurus used its tiny legs; paleontologist Philip Gingerich believes they may have served as stimulators or guides during copulation.]]> http://national-geographic.cafepress.com/art/s_1320197